Like High School Didn't Suck Enough Already (Konoha High Fanfic)
by xXToraUchihaXx
Summary: Tora was born an Uchiha but was given up at birth. When she's 6 she is adopted by Minato and Kushina Namikaze. At age 14 her older brother Itachi contacts her and they become extremely close. Now her and her adoptive brother Naruto are accepted into Konoha academy on scholarships. Join Tora as she makes new friends/enemies, falls in love and deals with her past. Rated T for swearin
1. Character Info

Yeah another story! This is a Konoha High fanfic starring my OC Tora!

Character info.

Name:Tora Namikaze

Age:16 (sophomore)

Family: Was born into the Uchiha family but was given away at birth. Was adopted at age 6 by the Namikaze family

Likes: Ramen, basketball, reading, writing, singing, rock/punk music, annoying Sasuke, black, and hanging with friends

Dislikes: Sasuke, Bitchy girls (Sakura), anything girly and pink , and bullies

Friends: Naruto, Hinata, Tenten, Temari, Ino, Neji, Lee, Shikamaru, Shino, Kankuro, Gaara, and the Akatsuki

Enimes: Sasuke and Sakura (so far)

Crush: Gaara


	2. Chapter 1

So this is Chapter 1 of my new story. Please follow and review. I would like to know what you guys think of it. Enjoy!

~C.S.

"Tora! Wake up, you don't want to be late for your fist day of school!" I hear my adoptive mom, Kushina, yell. Damn, I had hoped this day wouldn't come. I groan as I roll out of bed and sleepily make my way to the bathroom. Once I finish my morning routine I throw on a pair of dark jeans and a dork red long sleeve T-shirt. This is going to be the worst day ever.  
First, let me introduce myself. My name is Tora Namikaze. I was born into the Uchiha family, but my parents gave me up at birth. Minato and Kushina Namikaze adopted me when I was six years old. I don't really mind though, I like the Namikaze's modest lifestyle. Minato is the owner of the best dojo in town and Kushina owns a café. The Uchiha's, my biological family, are rich, like "I own my own privet airport" rich. I've seen them on T.V. and the look like typical stuck up rich folks. Well, except for Itachi.  
Itachi Uchiha is my older brother and he never felt right about our parents giving me up and keeping my twin brother, Sasuke. Two years ago, when I was 14, Itachi tracked me down and told me how much he wished that I were never put up for adoption. We kept in touch and now we hang out all the time, in secret though so that his parents don't find out that he decided to find me.  
Anyways, it's my first day at Konoha Academy and I don't want to go. Konoha Academy is a school for the rich and the only reason I'm able to go is because of a scholarship that my adoptive brother, Naruto, and I received. Half for academics and half for sports. The catch, we have to maintain a B average and lead the girls and guys basketball teams to the championships. No pressure there. Sadly it's the middle of the school year. It's not like I could just hide in the back and go unnoticed until graduation. Now, they're going to stand me in front of the class and force me to introduce myself. Then they're all going to judge me for being a "commoner".  
When I get downstairs Kushina already has breakfast made and Minato is sitting at the table reading the news. "Good morning!" I say brightly as I sit down at the table.  
"Good morning, sweetheart." Kushina places my breakfast in front of me and kisses the top of my head. This is why I love the Namikaze's; they treat me like I'm their own child. "Did you see Naruto before you came down?"  
"No, but I think I heard his shower running." I answer. I quickly eat my breakfast and put my dish in the sink. As I grab my black leather jacket Naruto comes stumbling down the stairs in his Konoha Academy uniform. I have to admit he looks good in black slacks and a white button up dress shirt. And the blue tie really brings out his eyes.  
"Where's your uniform Tora?" He asks.  
"Are you kidding me?" I snort. "There's no way I'm wearing that whorefit." The thing was terrible. The skirt barely covered my butt and the shirt had a few buttons on top that were "missing", taken off by the male teachers most likely, so my cleavage showed. Luckily the principal is an old friend of Minato and Kushina, so she told me I could wear my own clothes. She said if anyone complained she'd tell them that we could only afford one uniform and I, being the awesome sister I am, let my brother have it.  
Naruto laughs and begins to scarf down his breakfast. "Do you two need to borrow the car?" Kushina asks.  
"No, I've got a ride coming," Naruto says, "The guys are gonna drop me off on their way to school." By "the guys" Naruto means his old friends from the public school.  
"What about you Tora?"  
"I'll be fine. I've got my bike." I say.  
"I thought you said you didn't want to stand out." Minato says. "Roaring in on a motorcycle isn't exactly going to make you invisible."  
"I'm going to stand out enough without the uniform. So I figure, why not make a badass first impression?" A car horn beeps from outside and Naruto stands up.  
"That's my ride, see ya after school," Naruto says and kisses Kushina on the cheek before he runs out the door.  
"I should get going too," I say and hug Minato and Kushina.  
"Have a good day!" Kushina yells after me as I run out the door. I pull on my blood red motorcycle helmet and jump on my bike. Revving the engine I take off down the street towards the school.  
I let go of my worries for a moment as I take in the adrenaline rush that always accompanies riding m bike. But the ride is over all too soon as the tall brick building that is Konoha Academy comes into view. As I pull into the parking lot everyone turns their heads to stare at me and I sigh. It's like they've never seen a person on a motorcycle before. I park my bike next to a hideous pink Charger. People are still staring when I pull my helmet off and my long brown hair cascades down my back.  
I hang my helmet on the handle bar just as a 2008 black Ford Mustang convertible pulls up behind me and Naruto jumps out. A chorus of "Good luck Naruto" comes from the other guys in the car before they blast the stereo and drive away. "Didn't I leave after you?" I ask Naruto.  
"It's not my fault my friends don't speed like you do," he teases.  
"Hey, if they had an awesome ride like me they would."  
"Come on Speed Racer, let's go get our schedules," he says.  
"Okay," I say as we being walking to the front of the school. "Just tell me one thing. Do you see all of the staring people or am I going crazy?"  
"They're only staring because they've never seen this much awesome in one person before," he says conceitedly.  
"Or they've never seen someone as stupid looking as you before." I snicker.  
"Shut up," he grumbles.  
"Aw, you know you love me," I say nudging his arm.  
"Whatever." When we reach the office the staring still hasn't stopped and we walk in.  
"Hey Shizune," I say to the shorthaired receptionist.  
"Hey Tora, Naruto. You here for your schedules?" She asks.  
"Yup," I say.  
"Hold on let me find them." She shuffles through a few papers on her desk before handing us some. "Tora, Tsunade asked me to tell you that she doesn't want to see you in her office for fighting on your first day."  
"I can't make any promises," I say with a sly smile as I walk out of the office.  
"Let me see your schedule," Naruto says snatching the paper out of my hand before I can even look at it. "Aw, we only have 3 classes and lunch together."  
I grab my paper from his hands and read it.  
1st period: History- Kakashi Hatake Room 104  
2nd period: Physics- Anko Mitarashi Room 312  
3rd period: Pre-Calculus- Asuma Sarutobi Room 213  
4/5th period: Art- Kureni Yuhi Room S3  
6th period: Lunch- Staff Café  
7/8th period: Gym- Might Gai Gym 1  
9th period: Study Hall- Kakashi Hatake Room 104  
10th period: Language Arts- Iruka Umino Room 103  
"So which of these classes do we have together?" I ask.  
"History, gym, and language arts." He answers.  
"Oh good, so we can get lost on the way to our first class together!" I say brightly.  
"We should have asked Shizune where it was." He says.  
"As long as we can make it there before the bell rings." Of course with my luck the bell rings right after I say that. "It doesn't matter, it's Kakashi he knows it's our first day. Come on let's try to find it."  
After about 10 minutes of wandering we finally find room 104. "Victory!" I shout pumping my fist in the air.  
"You do realize we have to go introduce ourselves to a bunch of rich snobs now." He says and laughs as my face falls. He knocks on the door and the familiar silver haired masked man opens the door. Kakashi has awesome eyes; I've always wished that mine looked like his. One eye is black while the other is blood red.  
"Not you two," he groans.  
"Nice to see you too Kakashi," I say sarcastically.  
"Just get in here," he sighs. We walk in and everyone stares at us. "Why don't you introduce yourselves."  
"Alright! I'm Naruto Namikaze and I'm gonna take your boys basketball team all the way to the championships, BELIEVE IT!" I smack him on the back of the head.  
"What did I tell you about saying believe it?" I growl. He used to say it all the time when we were kids; it was the most annoying thing ever. So naturally I beat the habit out of him.  
"Sorry, sorry," he apologizes while holding his hands in the air in front of him the ward off another attack.  
I flash him a smile and turn to the class. "I'm Tora Namikaze and I'm going to do the same thing for the girls basketball team."  
"What makes you think you're even gonna make the team?" Asks a boy with raven hair. I immediately recognize him as my twin brother Sasuke. Great I get to be put in class with the most arrogant, self-centered, jerk in the world. At least that's how Itachi describes him.  
"It's the only reason we're in this stupid school. Half tuition is paid with a sports scholarship and the other half is paid with an academic scholarship. It would be pretty stupid for the school to pay for us to go here because of a sports scholarship and then not put us on the team." I say.  
"So you're commoners," says a girl with pink hair and no shame in the way she dresses. Her uniform's worse than mine was.  
"That's one way of putting it." Naruto says.  
"Why are you not wearing the uniform?" Asks a guy with brown hair and two red triangles tattooed on his face.  
"She's probably too poor to afford it." Snorts the pink haired girl and the rest of the class laughs.  
"It's because I have dignity, something you obviously lack." I say clenching my jaw.  
"Are you siblings? Because you don't look alike," Asks a girl with long blonde hair in a high ponytail.  
"I'm adopted," I shrug. "Interesting class you have here Kakashi. How ever do you put up with them?"  
"Just take a seat Tora, you can sit next to Hinata. Hinata please raise your hand." Kakashi says. A girl in the back with blue-violet hair and pupil less lilac colored eyes raises her hand. I walk back and sit at an empty desk to her right. "Naruto, you can sit next to Kiba." The kid with red triangles on his face raises his hand and Naruto sits down next to him with a smile.  
"Hi, my name's Hinata Hyuga," the girl says in a shy voice. A Hyuga, they're almost as rich as the Uchiha's, but from what I've seen they don't go around flaunting it.  
"Nice to meet you," I smile, "Obviously I'm Tora."  
"Really?" She asks sarcastically. "I thought you were Naruto."  
"You're funny," I giggle, "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."  
"A very beautiful friendship indeed," She giggles.  
"It's a good thing too. I could defiantly use a friend here other than Naruto. I mean I love him and all, but he's not exactly the best company when you want quiet." I say and we laugh.  
"Hinata! Tora! Pay attention!"  
"Sorry Kakashi-sensei!" We say simultaneously and burst out into another fit of giggles.  
"Tora! I thought I taught you better discipline!" Kakashi says.  
"You did," I say trying to contain my giggles. "But I'm choosing to ignore it."  
"How do you know Kakashi-sensei?" Kiba asks and the entire class stares at me again.  
"He works at the dojo my adoptive dad owns and has been my sensei since I was six."  
"Can you not divulge information pertaining to my personal life, please?" Kakashi sighs.  
"Sorry."  
Class dragged on slowly. All Kakashi did was assign us bookwork while he read Icha Icha Paradise. The stupid, perverted book that was written by none other than my godfather, given to me when I was adopted, Jirya. He's also Tsunade's husband and Minato's old sensei. He's Naruto's current teacher, too. While I got stuck with Kakashi who was trained by Minato.  
As I'm doing my work someone nudges my elbow. I look up and see Hinata drop a note on my desk.  
_What do you have next period?_  
I pull out my schedule and look before scribbling down a reply.  
**_Physics with Anko-sensei_****.**  
I pass it back to her and her eyes widen before writing something down and handing it to me.  
_But that's a senior class!_  
**_I'm here on a partially academic scholarship so I'm ahead in a few classes._**  
_What room is it in?_  
**_312, why?_**  
_My next class is right to it. I can walk you there.  
__**Awesome! That would help me out a lot :)**_  
The Bell rings and we both stand up. "So what school did you got to before?" Hinata asks as we make our way to the far side of the school.  
"Just the public high school." I answer. "It was just too boring though. I pretty much slept through all of my classes and aced them all."  
"Sounds like Shikamaru," She says.  
"Who?"  
"Shikamaru. He's number one in the class, but he's also the laziest guy in the world."  
"That does sound like me." I smile.  
"We're here," she says and points at a door to our right. "That's your class. Mines the one right next to it, what do you have 3rd?"  
"Um, Pre-calc. with Asuma-sensei."  
"I'll wait for you and show you where it is."  
"Thanks Hinata. You're making my first day a lot easier than I thought it would be."  
"No problem. I was the new girl last year and no one helped me out, so my first day was a disaster. I'm just glad I could help prevent it from happening to you."  
"I'll see ya after class then." I say with a wave.  
"Bye!"  
I walk in to the room and immediately notice a woman with spikey purple hair. "Who are you?" She asks.  
"Tora Namikaze, the new student." I say.  
"Oh, yeah. The new kid," she says. "I'm Anko your new physics teacher. Just wait up here until the bell rings so I can introduce you to the class."  
"Okay!" I say cheerily. So now I'm awkwardly standing here waiting for the bell to ring and everyone's staring at me, again. Just before the bell rings a guy with silver-white hair walks in and comes up to me.  
"Who the fuck are you?" He asks. I just ignore him and look away. "Hey, bitch! I'm talking to you!" He waves his hand in front of my face.  
"It's none of your damn business," I growl and bite his hand. I do not like people invading my personal space.  
"Ouch! What the fuck!" He screams. "Who the fuck do you think you are!?"  
"The awesomest person on the face of the Earth." I say. "Unlike you, who's most likely the biggest asshole ever."  
"Why you little…"  
"Hidan, stop tormenting the new kid," a familiar voice cuts in. I spin around to see Itachi standing in the doorway. His eyes widen when he sees me. "Tora?"  
"Don't act so surprised to see me." I say. "It's not like I didn't tell you I got the scholarship and was coming here."  
"Yeah, but this is a senior class and you're a sophomore."  
"I'm also a genius." I say arrogantly.  
"Wait, you know this bitch?" The guy, Hidan, asks Itachi.  
"Sadly, yes," My older brother sighs.  
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean? I thought you liked me," I say in mock hurt.  
"I do, but you can be a pain in the ass sometimes."  
"How the hell do you know her!?" Hidan exclaims just as the bell rings.  
"Boys! Take your seats," Anko's sharp voice says and Hidan and Itachi make their way to their seats. "Class today we have a new student, introduce yourself."  
"I'm Tora Namikaze." I say.  
"Anything else?"  
"No, last class when I said more it turned into a session of interrogate the new girl."  
"Okay, you can sit next to Itachi, who is also your new lab partner." I don't reply as I got to sit at the lab table next to Itachi. "Today I'm going to assign our next big project. It will be due at the end of next week and you will work with your lab partners. The assignment is to build a catapult that launches a beanbag at least 10 feet." A collective groan goes through the class, but I'm excited. I love building things and I get to work with my big brother.  
The period went by slowly and Pre-calc. was pretty much the same. Asuma seemed like a laid back teacher. Art was interesting. There were these two guys at my table, Sasori and Deidara, who argued the entire time about what true art is. I agreed with the Sasori guy, art is eternal. It captures the beauty of a moment on a canvas so it can last forever.  
Finally lunch comes and I'm starving. "You can sit with me," Hinata says as we walk into the cafeteria. "My table's normally calm, except for Lee who's a bit eccentric."  
"Cool," I say, "Unless Naruto decides to sit with us, he's hyperactive and never sits still." We both laugh and walk to the lunch line where I buy some ramen. Damn Naruto got me hooked on it.  
"Our table's right over there," Hinata says pointing to a table in the back corner with four guys and three girls.  
"Tora! Hey Tora! Come sit with me!" I hear Naruto yell from my right. I look over and see him waving frantically at me. He's sitting at the table of what are obviously the jocks and preps. There are a couple of guys horsing around by him and I notice Sasuke sitting there with the pink haired girl plastered to his face. The other girls at the table are dressed in a similar fashion as her. Yeah, no way I'm sitting there.  
"Sorry bro!" I yell back. "But I'm gonna sit with Hinata!" Said girl blushes bright red when Naruto looks at her.  
"Fine!" He pouts and turns back to his table.  
"Come on," I say pulling Hinata towards the table she pointed out before. "Hey, Hinata! Snap out of it!" I snap my fingers in front of her face.  
"Huh? What?"  
"You wouldn't happen to have a crush on my brother, would you?"  
"Is it that obvious?" She asks.  
"Yup, but you're in luck. Naruto's the most oblivious person in the world." I laugh. We reach the table and the people there already there all stare at me. Seriously, what's with people and staring at me today?  
"Guys," Hinata says, "This is Tora Namikaze. She's new here and I'm helping her find her way around."  
"What a beautiful, youthful flower you are!" A boy with a bowl hair cut and extremely bushy eyebrows exclaims. "My name is Rock Lee!"  
"Shut up Lee, you're going to scare her off!" A girl with her hair in two buns says. "Oh and I'm Tenten."  
"Nice to meet you," I say and sit down.  
"I'm Neji," says a boy with long brown hair and eyes like Hinata. "Hinata's cousin."  
"You wouldn't happen to be related to that Naruto idiot?" Asks a girl with her dirty blond hair in four ponytails. "And by the way, I'm Temari."  
"Sadly, that idiot is my adoptive brother."  
"Man I feel bad for you. The sleeping boy next to me is my boyfriend, Shikamaru, incase you're wondering."  
"So he's the genius of the school." I say.  
"Also that laziest kid in the world." Says the girl with blond hair from my history class. "And I'm Ino."  
"Who are you?" I ask a boy with a hood on his head and sunglasses.  
"Shino," he says in a creepy, monotone voice and then turns to eat his lunch.  
"Okay…" I sweat drop. He's an odd one.  
"Hey sis," A voice says and I look up to see a brown haired kid sit down next to Temari. But what really catches my attention is the redhead standing behind him. I'm just gonna come right out and say it, he's HOT! When his sea foam green eyes meet my onyx ones I feel my heart skip a beat. I have to force myself to look away, but I really just want to get lost in those eyes forever. Damn it! What the hell's wrong with me? I never act like this.  
"Well, well, well. Who's this cutie?" Asks the brown haired guy.  
"Tora, these are my brothers." Temari says. "The irritating one trying to flirt with you is Kankuro and the silent one is Gaara." Gaara, that name seems to fit him.  
"Tora, that's a pretty name for a pretty girl," Kankuro says.  
"I wish I could say the same about yours, but personally I think Kankuro's a stupid name. And your face isn't that pretty." I say sweetly.  
"You just got burned!" Ino says laughing.  
"Shut up," he scowls. "And besides eventually you wont be able to resist my charms." He winks at me.  
"What charms?" Temari asks and the entire table laughs. Just then the entire cafeteria goes silent.  
"What's he doing here? The Akatsuki never eat in the cafeteria." Neji says in a low voice.  
"What are you doing here, Itachi?" Asks a monotone voice. I turn around to see Sasuke and Itachi in a stand off in the middle of the room. From what Itachi's told me, Sasuke hates him because he's always living in his shadow.  
"None of your business little brother." Itachi says and pushes past him causing Sasuke's jaw to clench. He makes his way over to me and whispers break out among the students. He grabs a chair and spins it around so he sits on it backwards.  
"You sure know how to make an entrance," I say with a smile.  
"It's not my fault my awesomeness attracts everyone's attention," He replies cockily.  
"You? Awesome? Please, your awesomeness pales in comparison to mine."  
"I'm not even gonna respond to that."  
"So, what can I do for you?" I ask.  
"A few things actually. First, I want to know if we could hang out after school today. Hidan decided to tell the rest of the group that I know you and they want to meet you." He says.  
"I'll have to as Kushina, I'll send her a text later. Speaking of texting you know you could have just sent me a text to ask me this."  
"Well another reason I came here is so that everyone knows that you know me and won't mess with you."  
"Aw, how sweet of you," I coo, "But you do know I'm a third degree black belt, right?"  
"I know you can handle yourself, but if you get in a fight you won't just be suspended, Tora. You'll get charges pressed against you by the poor kid who incurred your wrath's parents, because you touched their little prince or princess."  
"And that's why I hate rich kids, they hide behind money and lawyers." I say bitterly. "At least you don't. I remember when I kicked your ass and you made up some lame story about falling down the stairs at school!"  
"Then my parents sued the school for their 'malfunctioning' stairs!" He laughs.  
"That was all over the news for a week!" I giggle.  
"Anyways," he says, "I also wanted to know if you're free after school for the rest of the week to work on our catapult."  
"Everyday except…"  
"Except for Thursday because that's your all night training day." He finishes for me. "I know, you always complain about it to me the day after."  
"Is that all you need?" I ask.  
"Oh and we're working at my house so Naruto doesn't end up destroying it. Now, I should probably get out of here before everyone's eyes pop out of their heads."  
"Good idea."  
He gets up and begins to walk out of the cafeteria. "Hey Naruto," he says as he passes by their table.  
"Hey Itachi," Naruto replies through a mouth full of ramen. Once Itachi's gone Hinata turns to me.  
"Spill it. How do you know Itachi?"  
"He's an old friend," I answer vaguely.  
"Really? How did you meet?" Asks Temari. How did we meet? Well one day Itachi showed up on our doorstep claiming to be my biological brother. A few DNA tests later we confirmed it and Itachi and I have been close ever since. But I can't tell them that. The fact that I'm biologically an Uchiha is only known by Itachi, my adoptive family and I.  
"I literally ran into him at the mall one day while running away from these guys who bullied me in middle school and Itachi helped me get away from them. At the time I wasn't very confident in my fighting skills even though I was already a first degree black belt," I say. It's not totally a lie. It really did happen, it just wasn't the first time we met.  
"Itachi doesn't seem like the type of guy who would help random little girls," Neji says.  
"That's just a front he puts up around other people, but underneath he's just like a teddy bear." I giggle as I imagine Itachi in a teddy bear costume.  
"Is he your boyfriend?" Ino asks.  
"No, he's more like an older brother."  
"So you're single." Kankuro states, wiggling his eyebrows.  
"I'm also not interested." I say with a sweet smile.  
"Uchiha's coming this way," a deep voice that sends shivers, the good kind, down my spine says. It takes me a second to realize it was Gaara.  
"You." I turn around and see Sasuke standing behind me with pinky, what I decided to call the pink haired girl, hanging on his arm.  
"Me?" I ask innocently pointing at my chest.  
"How do you know my brother?" He asks in an, I'm better than you, voice.  
"That," I say pointedly, "Is none of your business."  
"Tell me," he growls.  
"I would love to," I say sarcastically. "But sadly I don't talk to people with animal butts for hair."  
"That was a very youthful insult!" Lee exclaims as everyone else at the table snickers.  
"What?" He asks angrily.  
"You heard me Duck-butt, now scram!" I say.  
"How dare you!" He fumes. "My father will hear about this!" He turns and storms off.  
"Tell him I'd be glad to take it up with him tomorrow when Itachi and I will be working on our physics project at you house!" I call after him.  
"You can't talk to my Sasuke like that!" Pinky exclaims.  
"Oh beat it, Billboard brow!" Ino says and she storms off after Sasuke.  
"That was great!" Tenten says between laughter. "No one's ever talked to him like that before!"  
"I don't have to put up with his bullshit just because he's rich." I say.  
"Oh, the bell's gonna ring in a minute!" Hinata exclaims. "What class do you have next?"  
"Um, gym." I answer.  
"Sweet! We all have gym together next period!" Kankuro says. "I'm looking forward to seeing you in short shorts." He winks at me and I roll my eyes.  
"You're just gonna love Gai-sensei," Tenten says sarcastically.  
"What do you mean? Is he strict?" I ask curiously.  
"He's a fitness fanatic and crazy," Neji says, "Just think of Lee on steroids." Fuck…


	3. Chapter 2

chapter 2

"Do I really have to wear this?" I ask Hinata for the millionth time. I pull on the bottom of my shorts in an attempt to make them longer. There's something seriously wrong with whoever picked the uniforms for this school. My gym clothes consist of black booty shorts and a tight white t-shirt with the words Konoha Academy written across the chest in blue.

"That's what I thought on my first day," Hinata says. "Don't worry all of the guys only look at Sakura and her sluts of friends. The only guy you'll have to look out for is Kankuro."

"Believe me, I can handle him," I laugh as we walk out of the locker room and take a seat on the bleachers with out lunch posse. Kankuro cat whistles at me and I punch him in the arm.

"Aren't you guys excited for another youthful gym class with Gai-sensei?" Lee asks excitedly.

"Is he really worse than Lee?" I ask Tenten.

"Much worse. He's Lee's role model." She answers and I groan. The bell rings and an older looking version of Lee walks in.

"Hello my youthful students!" He shouts as I take in the green spandex and orange leg warmers. Oh Kami, this is Kakashi's rival. He told me that they used to train together before he transferred to Minato's dojo. "Today we have two new students, come up here please!" I sigh and stand up, I notice Naruto do the same and we walk to the front. "Introduce yourselves to the class!"

"Tora Namikaze," I say simply.

"I'm Naruto Namikaze! BELIEVE…"

"Finish that sentence and you die." I growl.

"Sorry," he apologizes.

"Ah! What youthful students! Today we will be playing basketball!" Gai yells. I perk up at those words. Basketball is my all time favorite sport! "It will be guys only." What?

"Why only guys?" I ask.

"Because girls cannot keep up with the youthful intensity of the boys!"

"Excuse me!" I say appalled.

"We wouldn't want you to break a nail, princess." The Kiba guy from history says.

"That's the most ridiculous and sexist thing I've ever heard! I could take you without even breaking a sweat." I say confidently.

"Yeah, sure you can, princess." He says sarcastically.

"Actually, dude. If there's one thing I've learned about Tora in the 10 years I've known her, it's to never underestimate her. I wouldn't doubt she could kick your ass on or off the court." Naruto says in my defense.

"Come on Gai-sensei, let me play!" I plead.

"No, I have a rule of not letting girls play contact sports with the guys." Gai says.

"I practiced with the guys basketball team at my last school! I've been hurt more times than I can count because of those guys and they've never held back. I can take it! Do you want me to go get Kakashi? He'll tell you I can take it. Hell, he never holds back when we train at the dojo, these guys are nothing compared to a master martial artist coming at you with full strength."

"You know Kakashi, my old rival?" He gasps.

"He's my sensei at the dojo I go to." I answer.

"Are you sure you want to play? I trust that if you can hold your own against him you can handle some teenage boys."

"Hell yeah!" I shout.

"Such youth!" He yells with tears streaming down his face. Well, he's an odd one. "Okay, you can play! Team captains will be Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto gets first pick since he's new."

"Awesome!" Naruto grins. "I want Tora."

"We're already gonna win," I say with a smile and we high five.

"Sasuke, your pick," Gai says.

"Kiba." He says.

"You, with the brown hair," Naruto says pointing.

"His name is Kankuro," I tell Naruto.

"Neji," Sasuke says. Neji sighs, it's obvious he doesn't like Sasuke.

"Dude with the blood red hair." Naruto says.

"Gaara," I supply.

"Chouji," Sasuke says and a chubby guy steps forward.

"Guy with the bushy eyebrows."

"That puts the pale kid on your team," I say to Sasuke.

"Alright youthful students, you have 5 minutes to assign positions and come up with a plan of action!" Gai says striking an odd pose.

My team forms a huddle. "Tora, you're point guard," Naruto says. "Bushybrows and Gaara, you're the other two guards. Kankuro, you'll be center and I'll be power forward. Got it?" We all nod.

"I'm guarding Kiba," I say, "Kid needs to learn a lesson."

"I'm fine with that, as long as I get Sasuke. Damn, jerk thinks he's better than everyone else." Naruto grumbles.

"I'll guard Neji," Gaara says, sending shivers down my spine again and I have to force myself not to look at him because I may not be able to look away.

"I will take the youthful Sai!" Lee shouts. I guess that's the pale kid's name.

"Guess that leaves me with Chouji," Kankuro smirks.

"Time's up!" Gai shouts. "Players to the court." We all walk out and Chouji and Kankuro get ready for the jump. I quickly throw my hair into a ponytail before taking my position.

"Go Tora!" I hear my new friends yell from the stands.

"Hope you're ready, princess." Kiba smirks.

"Hope you have a good doctor, smartass," I retort.

"Ready! Go!" Gai blows the whistle and throws the ball up. Kankuro manages to tip it to Gaara who passes it to me. I take off down the court towards our hoop.

"Tora, watch back!" Naruto shouts and I glance behind me to see Kiba on my tail. I make it to the 3-point line before Sai stops me.

"Tora, here!" Gaara shouts from the left wing and I pass it to him. He drives towards the basket, but gets stopped by Neji.

"Back out!" I yell and he passes it back to me.

"Come on, princess, see if you can get around me." Kiba says with a smirk. I fake left and go right, but he manages to stay on me. I quickly spin dribble into the key and pull up for a jump shot. The ball leaves my hand and swishes through the hoop.

"Nice on sis," Naruto says giving me a high five as we sprint back on defense.

"Thanks, post up next time and I'll get the ball to you." I say and he nods. I get in my defensive stance at the top of the 3-point line and wait as Kiba brings the ball down.

"Pick left!" Lee shouts as Kiba begins dribbling in that direction.

"Stay!" I say as I fight past Sai and cut off Kiba from driving to the basket.

"Kiba here!" I hear Sasuke yell and Kiba passes to him, but Naruto intercepts it. He holds it until they all get to out end of the court and throws it to me. We take our time getting down and Naruto takes his place on the right side block. I dribble to my right as Naruto posts up. I send him a bounce pass; he catches it and puts it in triple threat. He takes a second to determined where Sasuke is on his back before drop stepping towards the middle and shooting. The ball bounces off the backboard and goes in.

"Nice shot!" I say and slap him on the back. We run back on defense and wait for Sasuke to pass the ball in to Kiba. Kiba takes his time getting down here. Just as he reaches me he fakes right and goes left, but I keep up with him.

"Kiba!" Neji yells and Kiba chest passes it to him. Gaara intercepts and I sprint down court for a fast break.

"Gaara!" I shout and he launches the ball at me. I catch it and take off. Kiba's right next to me, but I don't stop. As I near the basket Kiba gets slightly in front of me. I go up for a lay-up and slam into Kiba's body. We tumble to the ground and my forehead smacks painfully against the ground.

"Tora! Are you okay?" Naruto asks as he runs over.

"I'm fine," I groan and roll onto my back.

"Tora you're bleeding!" He says with wide eyes.

"I am?" I ask and reach up to touch my head and my hand comes away red. "How bad is it?"

"Pretty bad, you should get to the nurse." He answers. "Gai-sensei, Tora's bleeding!"

"What? My youthful student is bleeding out her blood of youth! Naruto, take her to the nurse!" Gai yells.

"I would, but I, uh, don't know the way," Naruto says laughing in embarrassment.

"I'll take her," Gaara says blandly and holds out his hand to help me up. My heartbeat picks up as I reach up to take it. When our hands meet a spark of electricity goes through my hand and travels up my arm. I let go of his hand as soon as I'm up and blush.

"Come on," he says and we walk out of the gym. "You're pretty good at basketball."

"Thanks," I say and turn to hide the stupid blush on my face. "It's partially the reason why I'm able to attend here. Half of my tuition is paid for with a sports scholarship for basketball. The other half is academic. You're not so bad yourself."

"Thanks." He says emotionlessly. "So, how do you like it here?" He doesn't sound interested in our conversation at all. He's probably just asking to be polite.

"It's pretty cool here and I'm enjoying it. I'll admit that I thought all of you would act like spoiled rich brats, like Sasuke and Sakura. But you're not all that bad." I laugh nervously. Why do I feel so nervous around him? Kami, I need to get ahold of myself! I feel the blood start to drip down my face, as I get lightheaded. I stop and grab the railing for support.

"Are you okay?" Gaara asks and I think I see a spark of concern in his beautiful eyes, but I'm probably just imagining it. Wait, did I just say beautiful eyes? What the fuck, Tora! What's wrong with you?

"I'm fine," I say taking a deep breath. Black spots dance in my vision and the room starts to sway. "Or not." I mutter before I fall into the darkness.

Gaara's POV

"Are you okay?" I ask Tora in concern.

"I'm fine," she says. I notice her eyes glaze over and her body starts to sway. "Or not."

I just barely manage to catch her before she falls down the stairs. I pick her up bridal style and can help but notice how beautiful she is. With her angular features, high cheekbones, and plump lips that I wish I could kiss.

Whoa! What the hell is wrong with me? I've never thought that before. Heat rises to my face and I'm thankful she's asleep. Then I remember she passed out and is losing blood.

I sprint the rest of the way to the nurse's office. Once there I kick the door as a way of knocking. The shorthaired nurse, Shizune, opens the door and her eyes widen when she see's Tora unconscious in my arms.

"Oh my! What happened? Get her in here, quickly!" She exclaims. I walk in and gently lay Tora on the bed. "Have a seat." The nurse points to a chair next to the bed and starts cleaning Tora's cut. "What happened? She didn't get in a fight, did she?"

"It wasn't a fight. We were playing basketball in gym and when she went up for a lay-up she smacked into the guy defending her. They fell to the ground and her head hit the floor and split open. We were on the stairs when she passed out and I carried her the rest of the way here," I explain.

"I thought Gai only let guys play basketball in gym." Shizune mutters.

"She said it was sexist and insisted she could handle playing with the guys. At first Gai-sensei said no, but she argued it and he eventually said yes." I say.

"That's exactly what I would expect her to do," she chuckles.

"You know her?"

"Her adoptive parents are friends of mine." She answers as she finishes putting a bandage on Tora's head. "Can you do me a favor and stay with her while I run and get some food for her when she wakes up."

"No problem," I say and Shizune leaves the room. I reach out and absent-mindedly move a few pieces of hair that escaped from her ponytail, behind her ear. My hand moves of it's own accord and travels down to caress her cheek. She looks like an angel with her dark hair spread out behind her head.

She begins to stir and I hastily pull my hand back and act as if nothing had happened. Her onyx eyes flutter open and gaze into mine and I feel as if she's looking into my soul. I realize I'm staring and quickly look away blushing.

"Where are we?" She asks.

"The nurse's office," I answer. "I carried you here after you passed out."

"Thanks, I'm starving though. You wouldn't happen to have any food, would you?"

"The nurse went to get you some." I say as the door opens and Shizune walks in with some instant ramen.

"Oh! You're up! How do you feel?" Shizune asks.

"Perfectly fine!" Tora says brightly. "Just a little hungry."

"I knew you would be," she says handing Tora the ramen. "You can go back to class now Gaara. I'll give you a pass."

I silently stand up and get my pass. "Hey Gaara." Tora says as I walk out the door. "Thanks for, um, helping me."

"It was nothing," I say without turning around so she wouldn't see the blush on my face and go back to gym.

Tora's POV

"Hey Gaara," I say just before he walks out the door. "Thanks for, um, helping me." I feel blood rise to my cheeks.

"It was nothing," he says emotionlessly without turning around and walks out the door. There's a sting in my heart and I have no idea what it is. Is it because he brushed me off so easily?

I eat my ramen in silence. Why does he affect me so much? I mean I just met him. But for some reason I feel drawn to him, like we're the same or something. I hear the bell ring and stand up.

"What are you doing?" Asks Shizune looking up from her paperwork.

"Going to class," I say in a duh voice.

"Are you sure you're okay to go?"

"I'll be fine," I say brushing off her concern.

"If you say so," she says skeptically. "If you feel dizzy at any time, come back."

"Don't worry Shizune. You of all people should know that I heal quickly." I smile and leave to go to Kakashi's room for study hall. Once I get there I'm tackled by Hinata.

"Are you okay?" She asks letting go of me.

"Yeah, it was just a scratch." I answer.

"Gaara said you passed out!" Temari exclaims. "How the hell can you be alright?"

"And that was a lot of blood for 'just a scratch'," Neji says.

"I'm a fast healer," I shrug.

"That you are," Kakashi says from behind me.

"I wouldn't be able to survive your training if I wasn't," I say back.

"Just remember that just because you're hurt, you're not exempt from training tonight."

"I know," I sigh. "If I want to survive this next mission I can't afford not to train."

"Mission?" Hinata asks.

"Did I say mission? I meant competition." I say quickly covering up the mistake.

"Oh." She says.

"Anyways, did Shizune tell you parents you got hurt?" Kakashi asks.

"No way! If Kushina found out she would have pull me out of this school faster than you could blink!"

"I'll text Minato," he sighs, "And him not to tell Kushina."

"Thanks Kakashi."

"Now take a seat and be quiet."

I walk to the back and sit down with Hinata, Temari, and Neji. I pull out my phone and send Kushina a quick text.

Me: Can I hand with Itachi after school?

Kushina: Why?

Me: His friends want to meet me.

Kushina: Where are you going?

Me: The mall.

Kushina: I guess. Just be home in time for dinner at 5 and training.

Me: I will. Love you.

Kushina: Love you too.

I send a text to Itachi telling him that Kushina said I could go and look at the time. Ugh, there's still 30 minutes left. I pull out my sketchbook and begin to sketch a basic design for our catapult. By the time I finish the bell rings and Temari's leading me to our next class.

When we get to the door we run into Naruto and Kiba. "Are you okay?" Naruto asks while giving me a hug. "I was so worried about you! They didn't call Mom did they? Kami, she's gonna flip when she finds out!"

"I know, it's a good thing I only have to deal with it for dinner," I laugh.

"Hey, um, Tora," Kiba starts. "I'm sorry about what happened in gym." He hangs his head and his eyes are downcast towards the floor.

"Don't worry about it. I should have known you would beat me there and pulled back. So it's my fault really." I say.

"So, I'm forgiven?" He asks hopefully.

"Yup."  
"Awesome. Now on a completely different subject, you're amazing at basketball!" He exclaims.

"You're not so bad yourself," I reply as we walk into class. A man with long brown hair in a ponytail and a scar across his nose greets us.

"You two must be the new students," he says warmly. "I'm Iruka-sensei."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Tora," I say with a smile.

"And I'm Naruto!" Naruto shouts.

"I see you two have already made some friends, so I'll allow you to sit by them and once everyone's here I'll introduce you to the class."

"Okay Iruka-sensei," I say and Temari drags me to the back of the room and I sit next to her. We chat for a while until the bell rings.

"Okay class!" Iruka says getting our attention. "We have two new students today. They're Tora and Naruto." Naruto and I stand up and everyone stares at the white patch on my forehead that's covering my cut.

"Aw look, it's the commoners," Pinky sneers. "And one of them's hurt. I mean we all know she did it just for attention." The class snickers and my jaw clenches and I begin to do something extremely stupid when I feel a hand on my shoulder. I look back and see Naruto.

"She's not worth it, sis. And besides Kakashi'll make your training hell tonight it you do that. Not to mention Mom and Dad will kill you." For someone with a tendency to say stupid things, Naruto can be pretty wise when he wants to be.

"You're right. Thanks." I say sitting down.

"No response?" Pinky asks. "Must be too scared."

"Sakura! That's enough!" Iruka yells at her.

"Scared? Of you? No," I laugh. "I'm scared of Kakashi's training and my mother's wrath!"

"Tora!" Iruka says sharply.

"Sorry Iruka-sensei."

"Now that that's over, turn to page 578 in your literature books. Today we'll be reading Romeo and Juliet." He says and everyone groans. This class decides that it's going to be the longest one yet. I'm almost asleep by the time the bell rings. I grab my stuff and make my way outside.

"Hey Tora," Itachi says walking next to me.

"Hey."

"So, we were all just going to ride to the mall together and I came to get you."

"What about my bike?" I ask.

"Tora!" Naruto yells running up to us. "Hey Itachi."

"Hey," he says.

"What do you want?" I ask.

"Um, funny story," he laughs. "So the guys have practice after school and I don't have a ride home."

"Here," I say tossing my keys to him. "I'm riding with Itachi to the mall so you can take my bike. It's parked next to a hideous pink Charger. Just don't crash it."

"Thanks sis!" He calls over his shoulder and runs away.

"No problem," I call back. "So, where's our ride?"

"Right here," Itachi says as a black limo drives up next to us.

"A limo?" I ask raising an eyebrow.

"It's Pein's, he's kind of like the leader of our group. It's his own personal limo and it's normally what we take to go places."

"Damn rich kids," I mutter. Itachi just laughs as he gets in. I hesitate on the sidewalk for a second. I have a strange feeling we wont be going to the mall I usually hang out at. I take a deep breath and go into the dark limo. Before I can get a look at anything something is pull over my head blocking my vision. What the fuck did I get myself into?

Thanks for anyone who reads this! Hope you like this new chapter. I have big plans for this story so please Follow and Review

Enjoy

~C.S.


	4. Chapter 3

"What the hell!" I shout.

"Hidan," I hear Itachi sigh. "Take the bag off of Tora's head."

"But I don't wanna see her fucking face!" Hidan shouts.

"Hidan!" A sharp voice says.

"Fine," he sighs and I feel the bag being lifted from my head. As soon as it's off I lunge forward at Hidan who's sitting across from me. I pull my right are back and bring it forward with all my strength, which is a lot. My fist makes contact with his left eye and I smirk knowing it'll leave a mark.

"What the fuck was that for?" He whines.

"That's what you get for putting a bag over my head."

"Bitch," he mutters.

"What did you say?" I ask my fist poised to hit him again.

"Nothing," he says quickly. Smirking I sit back and examine the others in the car. I immediately recognize Sasori and Deidara from my art class. Deidara smiles at me and flicks his long blond hair over his shoulder, while Sasori just stares at me blankly with his dark brown eyes.

"I like her already," a guy with some sort of headdress thing that only leaves his green eyes visible says. "Anyone who can shut up Hidan is okay in my book."

"Thanks," I say with a smile. "I'm Tora, by the way."

"Kakuzu," he says.

"Nice to meet you." I say and turn to everyone else. "So, anyone else feel like introducing themselves or should I just make up names?"

"I'm Pein," says a guy with orange hair and tones of piercings on his face says.

"So you're the one who owns the limo. Lucky." I mutter.

"I'm Konan," a girl that has dark blue hair with a paper flower in it says. "It'll be nice to have another girl around."

"Trust me, I know how that feels. When I was 3 I lived in a foster home that was full of boys. I have extremely vivid memories of what they would do," I say making a face. Out of the corner of my eye I see Itachi's face sadden. I guess he still feels sad over the topic of our parents giving me up.

"That must have been terrible," she laughs.

"Believe me, it was. Continuing on with introductions, who are you?" I ask a guy with blue hair like Konan and gills tattooed on his face.

"Kisame," he answers simply.

"Cool," I say.

"Aren't you two going to introduce yourselves?" Konan asks Sasori and Deidara.

"She already knows us," Sasori says.

"We have art together, un," Deidara explains.

"We're here," Pein says as the car stops. The driver opens the door and we get out. A huge brick building looms in front of us and the sign reads Konoha Elite Mall. Damn it. They brought me to the rich people mall. Yes, we have one of those here, sadly. The rich folk started to complain that our regular mall was too low quality and filled with dirty poor people, so they banded together and built this place. It's filled with designer everything and one shirt here costs more than my entire outfit.

The group walks on ahead before they realize I'm still staring at the building. "Um, Tora? Are you okay?" Konan asks.

"Hm? Yeah, I'm fine." I say shaking my head. Damn rich kids.

I follow them in and can't help but laugh. It's exactly like the regular mall. The clothes are pretty much the same, the prices are just jacked and they slap some designer brand name on them!

"Should we be scared that she's laughing?" Kisame asks Itachi.

"Oh you poor naïve rick kids," I say wiping a team from my eye.

"What do you mean, un?" Deidara asks.

"I mean that everything here is the same as the regular mall, but with a designer brand name on it. You guys are paying triple the cost for these."

"What? No way! You're lying." Sasori says.

"Dude, I bought that shirt yesterday for half the price," I say pointing at a black shirt with a dark blue dragon design on it.

"It's not like it matter," Pein says, "We have plenty of money to spare." Damn rich kids.

"So what exactly are we going to do here?" I ask.

"You," Konan says, "Are coming shopping with me. The boys can do whatever they want."

"But I can't afford anything here."

"Don't worry, I've got an unlimited credit card. I'll pay for you," she says and drags me off into the rest of the mall.

"You don't have to pay for me. I don't really need anything." I say.

"Oh course you need something! You need a dress!"

"A dress? For what?"

"No one told you? We have a school dance next weekend!" She exclaims.

"We do?"

"Yup, the annual Konoha Academy Ball. This year's ball is going to be awesome. The theme is masquerade." She says pulling me into a store filled with dresses.

"Hello, welcome to the Haruno Boutique how may I… Tora?" I turn around and stifle a scream of joy.

"Suzume!" I yell sprinting forward to tackle-hug my best friend, Suzume Haruno. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, you know how my dad's family is rich, but disowned him because he fell in love with a 'commoner'?" She asks and I nod. "My Uncle contacted me and said something about it not being my fault that I was born as the child of a 'failure' like my dad. He told me he pities me and gave me a job here. The only reason I took it was because the money can help with college."

"Ugh, I hate your family. Stupid rich people." I say then realize Konan, who is rich, is there. "Oh, Suzume meet Konan, my new friend at Konoha Academy and Konan meet Suzume Haruno, my best friend from public school."

"Nice to meet you," Konan smiles. "So you're the daughter of the smart Haruno who got out of that family when he could."

"Yeah," Suzume laughs. "From what I've seen of them, my dad's a pretty smart guy."

"Are the Haruno's really that bad?" I ask.

"You met Sakura today, right?" Konan asks.

"The bitch that's always hanging on Sasuke's arm? Yeah we've met."

"That's my cousin," Suzume says sadly.

"Oh you poor child!" I say pulling her into a hug. "You may end up losing a relative by the end of this year."

"What did she do to you?" She sighs.

"She decided to target me because I was mean to Sasuke Uchiha."

"Isn't that Itachi's little brother?"

"Yup, though I don't think she expected me to fight back." I laugh.

"Leave it to you to make enemies on your first day." Suzume says rolling her eyes.

"It's not my fault Sasuke's an ass and she's a bitch," I mumble.

"Anyways, what can I help you with?" She asks.

"We need dresses for our school dance." Konan says.

"Is there a theme?" Suzume asks.

"Masquerade," Konan answers.

"Oooh, maybe Tora can meet her prince charming," Suzume says wiggling her eyebrows.

"Shut up," I grumble elbowing her.

"I love you," she says in a childish voice and Konan laughs. "But I have the perfect dresses and they're one of a kind so you don't have to worry about somebody showing up in the same dress as you."

She leads us to the back and shifts through the racks. "This one's for Konan." She holds out a dark blue dress that's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. It has a corset that flares out at the waist and goes to the floor. The skirt part is decorated with silver flowers and vines. "And this one's for Tora."

She hands me a blood red dress that's similar in style to Konan's, with the corset and skirt. The corset is trimmed in black and the skirt is covered in a shimmery red fabric with a black rose design on it.

Suzume pushes us into the dressing rooms and yells that we aren't allowed to come out until she comes back with masks for us. I slip the dress on and it fits perfectly. There aren't any mirrors in the dressing room and I impatiently wait for Suzume to come back. I really want to see how it looks! "Put this on, the come out." I hear Suzume say and something black is dropped over the top of the door.

I pick it up and stare in amazement. It matches the dress perfectly! It's a simple black mask with a red rose design on the left side. I quickly put it on and step out of the room. I notice Konan's already out and talking to Suzume. "Konan! You look amazing!" I exclaim. The dress is perfect and the silver mask with a dark blue flower design, similar to the one on her dress, contrasts perfectly with her orange eyes.

"Me?! Tora, you look so… wow!" Konan says.

"Yes Tora, you look great," Suzume says licking her lips and making one of her many stalker faces at me.

"Creeper," I laugh. "Where's a mirror? I wanna see how I look."

"No!" Konan shouts. "You can't see until the night of the dance when you have your hair and make up done! You're going to come to my house and I'm gonna do it for you. I won't let you see until you have the completed look!"

"Fine," I sigh, "But you have to let me do yours."

"Okay!" She says brightly. "But we should get back to the boys now. I really don't want to listen to Hidan complain about how long girls take to shop."

"Good idea," I say and turn to Suzume. "Any way you can get off work to hang with us?"

"I have a half hour break, but that's all." She answers.

"Take it," I say. We pay for the dresses and masks before going to the food court to find the boys.

"So Konan," Suzume starts. "Do you have a date to this dance?"

"I'm, um, going with Pein," She says blushing.

"Aw, you two would make such a cute couple." I say.

"Do you have anyone in mind that you want to go with?" Konan asks me.

"Maybe," I say shyly.

"Who is it? Actually describe them because I won't know them." Suzume says.

"Well, he's, um… got blood red hair and sea foam green eyes," I blush madly.

"Gaara?" Konan asks with wide eyes and I nod. "You two would look so cut together!"

"You think so?" I ask.

"Mhm."

We reach the food court and Konan leads us to a table in the back where the guys are already sitting. We're halfway there when we're stopped by Kankuro, Gaara, and some girl with shoulder length brow hair.

"Hey cutie," Kankuro says winking at me.

I open my mouth to reply with a sarcastic comment, but Suzume beats me to it. "Hey asshole, don't flirt with my best friend!"  
"Who are you?" He asks in surprise.

"Kankuro, this is my best friend Suzume. Suzume this is Kankuro, a guy who thinks he has a chance with me." I say.

"What about them?" Suzume asks.

"The red head's Gaara," Konan says and Suzume turns to me with a question in her eyes. I nod to tell her that it is the Gaara that I want to go to the dance with.

"And I have no idea who the girl is, do you?" I ask Konan.

"Nope," she says shaking her head.

"This is Matsuri, my girlfriend," Gaara says and with each word I feel as if my heart is being stabbed. I only met this guy today and he affects me this much. I can feel tears prickle in my eyes and I blink to get rid of them. I look around wildly for and escape so I can go cry my eyes out over a guy I just met, but don't see one, so I force a smile.

"It's nice to meet you I'm…"

"There you are! Girls take fucking forever to shop!" Hidan exclaims as him and Itachi walk over.

"Nice to see you to Hidan," I say sarcastically. "I see you're still in a bad mood from the black eye I gave you earlier."

His hand goes up to lightly touch the dark bruise under his eye. "Who the fuck are they?"

"This is my best friend Suzume," I say pointing at Suzume who was busy putting her light brown hair in a ponytail.

"And you should know the two boys. They're in our art class," Konan says.

"Who's the chick?" He asks.

"Matsuri, the red head's girlfriend." Suzume says and I stare at her with wide eyes.

"Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?"

"My attention span isn't that short," she pouts.

"Yes it is Suzume," Itachi says.

"Shut up Itachi," she mutters. Suzume is on of the few people outside of my family that knows we're brother and sister.

"Anyways," Kankuro says, "I just wanted to ask Tora if she wanted to go to the dance with me?"

"I would but…" I think furiously trying to come up with a good excuse as to why I can't go with him.

"She's going with me," Itachi says saving me and I left out a sigh of relief.

"But you said you weren't dating!" Kankuro says to me.

"We aren't, we're going as friends," I shrug.

"She owes me for a favor I did for her last week, so I decided she's going to be my fan-girl shield at the dance." Itachi adds.

"Oh. Then next time." Kankuro says sadly.

"You could take Suzume, if nonstudents can go as the date of a student." I suggest.

"W-What?" Suzume stutters as her face turns bright red.

"Maybe, if she'll go on a date with me this Saturday." He says.

Suzume gives me a panicked look and I nod in encouragement. "O-Okay," she blushes. "But only if Tora comes."

"I don't want to be a third wheel," I say.

"You won't be," Kankuro says, "I'll bring Gaara along." I have to fight back a blush and look down so that my hair covers it.

"But Gaara was going to spend time with me!" Matsuri whines. This is the first time she's said something. In my opinion she's got the kind of voice that makes you me want to punch her in the face or is that just because she's dating Gaara?

"You can come too," Kankuro says.

"Great, now I'm a fifth wheel." I grumble.

"We can't we have to go to a party at Matsuri's grandparent's house. There's supposed to be some important ambassadors from other countries there." Gaara says. My phone vibrates in my pocket and I pull it out.

Kakashi: Training will start at 4 today; we have an important escort mission on Saturday. So make sure your schedule's free.

"Oh thank Kami," I say. "I'll have to remember to thank Kakashi for saving me from an awkward weekend."

"You don't want to come with us this weekend?" Suzume asks in mock hurt.

"I said that out loud, didn't I?" I say.

"Yup," She says happily, "So how did he save you?"

"Training trip on Saturday. What time is it?"

"3:50," Itachi says.

"Shit, I gotta go! He just has to tell me training is at 4, 10 minutes before I have to be there! Stupid Kakashi." I say angrily.

"Do you want a ride?" Itachi asks.

"No, the dojo's just down the street. I should be able to make it if I sprint."

"Are you sure?"

"Let her walk. Maybe someone'll kidnap the bitch and we wont have to deal with her anymore." Hidan says.

"Pft, as if I'd ever let someone kidnap me. Besides, I'd annoy them so much that they'd pay my family to take me back." I say. "I should get going though. Tell the others I said goodbye!"

"Wait! Give me your dress; I don't trust you to not put it on before the dance. Remember, you're not allowed to see how it looks." Konan says.

"Yeah, yeah I know," I say handing the bag to her. "Oh and Itachi, it's red and black so find something to match." I say and run out of the mall and to the dojo.

"Hey Genma," I say to the brown haired sensei as I enter the dojo.

"Hey Tora. You better hurry, Kakashi's already down there," he says before going into a coughing fit and turning back to his class.

"Thanks," I say as I sprint past the class of little kids and into the back room. I open a grey storage cabinet and press a secret button to my right. The back of the cabinet opens to reveal the inside of an elevator. I punch in my access code and hit the down button. The doors close and the elevator shifts down before stopping and opening to an underground training facility.

"There you are!" Kakashi says appearing beside me. "You're late. Go change and meet me at our normal training field."

"Like you're not ever late, it was only one minute." I grumble as I go to the locker room.

Allow me to explain why there is a giant training facility in the basement of our dojo. The truth is, the dojo is just a cover for Operation Shinobi. It used to be a government-funded program to train super soldiers, but they shut it down after a few years. The original subjects then continued it on by themselves. We are now a mercenary group that can be hired by anybody for any task, even assassinations.

Years ago the founder of our little group came across the style of ninjutsu, using chakra to control the element. Chakra is our life force and using hand signs we are able to focus it into attacks based on the elements. Everyone's chakra has a different element it can use. Mine is wind and lightning based, but there is also water, fire, and earth based chakras.

The goal is to train people in the way of the ninja. We're hired out by anyone who can pay for a mission, but we mostly work for the government. Minato is the Hokage or leader of our group. He's the fourth one we've had. The Third is still around, but he only drops in every once in a while.

I quickly change into white shorts and a blue tank top before putting on my kunai holder and weapons pouch. I tie my headband, kind of like our symbol, around my waist so that the metal piece with a leaf engraved in it faces forward. I throw my hair up in a ponytail and head to the training field.

"About time," Kakashi says as I walk up.

"What's with you? You never act this uptight about training. Who are you and what have you done with my unpunctual sensei?" I joke.

"Sorry," he sighs. "Minato just informed me about a mission we're doing with him, Naruto and Jirya. It's going to be tough and time consuming, but it involves Orochimaru and I want to make sure you're ready in case we have to fight him."

"It'll be fine, I'm ready to face him. That bastard's gonna pay for what he did to me." I reassure him.

"I just don't want you to get hurt or killed."

"Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself. So, what's the mission?" I ask.

"You'll find out after we train. Minato with brief us one this one and the one on Saturday. Now I want to train your Sharingan." He says and two black tomes appear in his red eye. I activate mine and get into position.

At the beginning of the program it was learned that certain families have special abilities. We call it their Kekkai Genkai or bloodline limit. The Uchiha's used to be a part of the organization along with most of the upper class families, but they left once they started to allow commoners into the program. The Uchiha Kekkai Genkai is the Sharingan. It allows the user to copy any technique and create powerful genjutsu, illusions. Kakashi's is a secondhand Sharingan that was given to him by his old teammate that died.

"Ready… begin." He says and charges at me with a kunai. My Sharingan easily follows his movements and I twist out of the way of a punch. I bring my leg up aiming a kick at his stomach, but he blocks it. We go into a short taijutsu battle before jumping away from each other.

I throw a bunch of shuriken at him and he jumps up to avoid them. I appear behind him and go to kick him again, but he grabs my leg and slams me to the ground. A huge crater appears as the wind is knocked out of me. I go to get up, but Kakashi's on top of me with a Kunai to my throat. "Again."

We train like this for three hours before going to meet with Minato. I'm slightly disappointed that we have to stop, but I'm excited to find out what our mission is.

We get to Minato's office in the center of the facility and I notice that Naruto and Jirya are already there. "About time you guys showed up." Naruto says.

"I'm so sorry that we took so long doing actual training, unlike you two," I say sarcastically.

"What do you mean unlike us?" He squints at me.

"I'm just saying that I don't think spying on the women's locker room is training."

"That's not me! It's all Pervy Sage!"

"Sure it is, whatever helps you sleep at night, bro."

"Enough you two," Minato says.

"Sorry," We say simultaneously.

"Now onto the mission." He says. "We have new information on Orochimaru."

"Orochimaru? Isn't he the one who kept Tora prisoner until you saved her?" Naruto asks.

When I was born I was immediately sent into foster care. Somehow Orochimaru, a crazy snake-like man and former shinobi that's obsessed with getting the Sharingan, found out and kidnapped me when I was four. He kept me and experimented on me for two years until one day Minato, Jirya, and Kakashi rescued me. Minato and Kushina took me in to protect me and I've trained ever since in order to be strong enough to defeat Orochimaru.

"Yes," Minato says. "It seems we don't have to worry about him coming after Tora anymore."

"Why?" I ask confused.

"Because, we have determined that his new target for the Sharingan is Sasuke Uchiha." That bastard! I can feel anger bubbling up inside of me. Sure Sasuke's an arrogant, self-centered, ass, but he's still my brother, even if he doesn't know it. "Intelligence tells us that Sasuke has already joined him willingly. He want's power so that he can kill Itachi and inherit the Uchiha business."

"We have to tell Itachi! He can't defend himself against jutsu!" I exclaim.

"Actually he can," Jirya says.

"What?" Naruto and I ask in unison.

"That group of people he hangs out with, the Akatsuki, are another group of mercenary ninja. They are in some ways an extension of our group. They take care of our assassinations for us. Each of the members have rare abilities, like Itachi's Sharingan. We have already notified them of Sasuke's plans and they should be able to take care of Itachi." Kakashi says.

"Your mission is to keep an eye on Sasuke and Orochimaru." Minato says. "Tora and Naruto, you will watch Sasuke and follow him to find the location of Orochimaru's hideout. Meanwhile Jirya, Kakashi, and I will search the city for any signs of the hideout. I need you two to get close to Sasuke in order to watch him."

"Yeah, there's no chance of that happening for me. I, um, sort of pissed him off during school today." I laugh in embarrassment.

"Seriously?" Minato asks and I nod. "Fine, Naruto you will have to become his friend."

"But he's such a stuck up jerk!" Naruto whines.

"Naruto!" Minato says sharply.

"Fine I'll do it," Naruto pouts.

"I'll set up surveillance at his house with Itachi tomorrow when I go over there to work on our physics project." I say.

"I'll bug his phone during gym or basketball when he's not in the locker room," Naruto says.

"I'll put a tracking device on his car during my lunch break to make it easier for you two to keep track of him," Kakashi says.

"Good," Minato says. "Remember we have to stop this. If Orochimaru get's his hands on the Sharingan he'll come after us and then the world."

"And they'll be defenseless against the Sharingan. It can be strong enough to defeat an army." I say.

"We don't want that to happen. And even if Sasuke manages to keep Orochimaru from taking his Sharingan, we can't let him kill Itachi. The Uchiha's are a powerful family with lots of government influence. I don't even want to know what someone like Sasuke would do with that kind of power. Got it?" Minato asks.

"Yes sir!" We all say.

"Good. Naruto and Jirya can go, I need to talk to Tora and Kakashi about their mission on Saturday." Minato says and Naruto and Jirya leave. "You two have an escort mission. You will be escorting an ambassador from France to a party. Once at the party you two will never leave his side. There have already been many assassination attempts on him. Here's all the information you need." He slides a folder across the table and Kakashi opens it and scans the contents.

"Do we know who the attempts have been by?" I ask.

"They're a group of revolutionaries in France who wish to end all foreign affairs in their county. Now we should probably get home before your mother kills us for being late to dinner."

I nod and rush to get ready to leave. I meet Naruto and Minato in front of the dojo and we all jump into Minato's blue Ford F-150. Minato pretty much speeds home and when we pull into the driveway we jump out and sprint into the house.

"You're late," a demonic voice says and we look to find Kushina sitting at the table, her hair casting an ominous shadow across her face.

"W-We had to s-stay late," Naruto says in fear.

"B-Blame Kakashi. H-He's the o-ne who kept me t-to train la-late," I stutter out.

"It's my fault," Minato says calmly. "I had to brief them on a mission."

"So a mission is more important than a family dinner?" She asks, her red hair flying out around her and a demonic look in her eyes.

"It involved Orochimaru," Minato says and all traces of the demon disappear.

"Is he after Tora again?" She asks in concern.

"I'll tell you about it after dinner. Now how about dinner?"

"Yeah, I'm starving!" Naruto shouts and we sit down while Kushina brings out the food. "So Tora, did you hear about the dance?"

"Dance? What dance?" Kushina asks.

"It's a Masquerade Ball next weekend," Naruto says.

"Are you going to go?" Minato asks.

"Yup," he says.

"What about you Tora?" Kushina asks.

"Mhm, I've already got a dress too." I say.

"When'd you get a dress?" Asks Naruto.

"Today when I went to the mall with Itachi and his friends." I say. "My new friend Konan and bought our dresses. And I got to see Suzume! She was working at her Uncle's store where we bought them."

"We haven't seen Suzume in a while. How is she?" Minato asks.

"She's good. I even got her a date to go to our dance with another one of my new friends. He asked me first, but I'm not really interested in him. Oh! And I have to go with Itachi. I'm going to be his fan-girl shield and he saved me from having to go with that guy. Oh Kami, I'm going to the dance with my older brother as my date, how embarrassing." I sigh and everyone laughs.

"You got a girl you want to ask yet?" Minato asks Naruto.

"Maybe," he says with a blush.

"Who is it?" I ask.

"Well, she's really pretty."

"Stop stalling and tell us already!" I shout.

"She's the first new friend you made today."

"Oh my Kami! It's Hinata!" I yell. "You have to ask her!"

"Do you think she likes me?" He asks.

"Yes."

"But what if she says no?"

"She won't." I say.

"Yes she will, I'm better off just going alone," he says sadly. Oh Kami, he's an idiot and Hinata's too shy to ask him. If I don't do something those two will never get together. Looks like I'm going to be playing matchmaker tomorrow.

Another chapter up! I hope you guys enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoy writing it. People in school must think I'm creepy because I'm always smiling when I write and I've gotten quite a few strange looks for it. Oh well. Anyways hope you enjoy this chapter.

~C.S.


	5. Chapter 4

The next day starts off normal. People seem to have gotten over the fact that I'm a commoner and refuse to wear the ridiculous uniform and Sakura hasn't bothered me yet. It's a pretty good day, that is, until lunchtime.

"So you already got a dress for the dance?" Hinata asks as we sit at our table.

"Yeah, I bought it yesterday when I was at the mall with Itachi's friends." I say.

"Oh really?" Tenten asks. "How was hanging with the seniors?"

"I really only spent time with Konan, but she was nice. We're getting ready for the dance together at her house." I say and begin slurping my ramen. "Where's Gaara?" I of course noticed the red head's absence as soon as we sat down.

"The monster has him," Kankuro says.

"Monster?"

"His girlfriend," he clarifies. "I should have never gone to the mall with them. It was pure torture! She's such a bitch."

"I'd normally smack you for saying something like that about our little brother's girlfriend," Temari says, "But sadly you're right. I can't stand that girl."

"Me neither. I met her yesterday at the mall and as soon as she opened her mouth I wanted to knock her out." I say.

"Shh, here they come," Hinata whispers.

"Kami, save us all." I mutter and turn around to see Gaara walking towards us with Matsuri hanging on his arm.

"Hey bro," Kankuro says. "Have a seat."

"I'm sitting with Matsuri," he says in his deliciously deep voice.

"Then why the hell did you bring that thing over here?" I mumble only loud enough for Temari to hear and she has to cover her mouth to stifle her laughter.

"I just came to ask Temari if she could come and help me with my math homework." He says.

"Only if Tora comes," Temari says and I spit the juice I was drinking all over Neji.

"Sorry Neji," I giggle.

"It's okay, I'm just happy I'm not you right now." He smiles.

"I hate you," I glare. "Oh and Temari. No way in hell."

"Please Tora," she says giving me a pleading look. "I promise I'll make it up to you."

"Fine," I mutter.

"Yay!" She jumps up, grabs my arm and drags me away following Gaara and Matsuri.

"So which table is it?" I ask.

"That one," Matsuri says pointing towards a table in the center of the cafeteria with Sasuke and Sakura.

"Oh Kami," I moan, "Why must you torment me so?" I hear Gaara chuckle and watch as he tries to hide a smile.

"Aw, look. Matsuri took on a charity case," Sakura sneers. "You have such a good heart."

"Charity case my ass," I mutter clenching my teeth.

"It's so sweet of you to help the less fortunate." A girl with dull red hair and glasses says. "She so obviously needs help. I mean, just look at that outfit."

"What the hell's wrong with my outfit?" I growl looking down at my ripped up skinny jeans, black converse with red stitching, and black t-shirt with a bloody heart on it.

"Honey," the girl says. "Everything's wrong with that outfit." I open my mouth to tell her off when Temari squeezes my arm.

"Be good," she whispers and I close my mouth. This is going to be the longest lunch ever. "So what did you need help with Gaara?"

"There'll be time for math later," Matsuri says. "Right now I want Gaara to talk to me."

"Then why the hell did we need to come over here?" I mumble. We sit down and I grit my teeth as Matsuri sits on Gaara's lap. I turn my head away and glare at the wall. This sucks. "I hate you," I grumble to Temari.

"How the hell was I supposed to know she wasn't going to let me help him?"

She whispers.

"I know," I sigh as pieces of their shallow conversation about shopping and make up reach my ears.

"Time for dessert," Sakura purrs as she climbs on Sasuke's lap and starts sucking his face. I turn my head away, but end up looking at Matsuri doing the same to Gaara. I feel my blood start to boil as I take a few deep breaths.

"Fuck this, you wanna be saved?" I ask Temari.

"Hell yes!" She exclaims.  
I pull out my phone and send a text to Itachi.

Me: Save Me!

Itachi: Give me the details.

Me: Sasuke's lunch table, people sucking face, get Temari and I out of here!

Itachi: I'll take care of it.

Thank Kami! A few minutes pass before Sasori and Deidara walk into the cafeteria. They ignore the stares and walk straight to us. Everything's silent as they stop in front of our table and Matsuri and Sakura release the guys.

Sasori and Deidara look at each other before smiling evilly. "Targets." Sasori starts.

"Acquired." Deidara finishes as he grabs me from my seat and throws me over his shoulder. Out of the corner of my eye I see Sasori do the same to Temari.

"Put me down!" I shout while banging a fist on his back while my other hand tries to remove his long blond hair from my face. "I told you to save us, not molest us!"

I feel his body shake with laughter as I continue to pound on his back. "You're the one who wanted us to save you." He chuckles.

"Bastard," I grumble.

Once we're out of the cafeteria they set us down. "Though I don't approve of your method, thanks for saving us." Temari says.

"No problem," Sasori says. "We've met Itachi's brother before. The guy's such an ass."

"Try meeting his girlfriend sometime," I shudder.

"As fun as that sounds, I'd rather not." He laughs.

"Come on, you two can spend the rest of lunch with us." Deidara says as he leads us to a stairwell.

"Where are we going?" Temari asks.

"The roof," Deidara says. "It's where we spend our lunchtime in order to avoid drama with the younger Uchiha." When we get to the top I feel someone grab my shoulder. My ninja training kicks in as I grab an arm and flip someone over my shoulder.

"What the fuck?" Hidan whines as he looks up at me from the ground.

"Sorry," I say sheepishly.

"You better be, bitch." He mutters.

"Hey asshole, didn't your mother ever tell you it's not nice to talk to girls like that?" Temari snaps.

"Oh, I'm sorry princess!" He says mockingly. "Did I hurt your feelings?"

"Aw, you're so sensitive." Temari coos. "I think I know why you fell the need to act all tough."

"And what reason would that be?" He asks with a raised eyebrow as he stands up. Temari walks over to him and places her lips next to his ear. She whispers something and Hidan's face turns bright red. "What!" He shouts.

"You heard me." Temari smirks.

"You stupid bitch! I do not have a small…" He trails off as he realizes the rest of us are laughing our asses off.

"I like your friend, Tora!" Konan says between giggles. "You should bring her around more often."

"I agree with that," Kisame laughs.

"Between the two of you, Hidan will be tormented so much!" Kakuzu exclaims.

"I'm glad you guys like me, my name's Temari," she says. "And I look forward to tormenting him."

"Me too!" I laugh. "Oh and thanks guys!" I give Sasori and Deidara each a hug.

"What about me?" Itachi asks with mock hurt. "I'm the one who sent them."

"Aw, you know I love you," I say giving him a side hug.

"Stop," Pein says as I go to pull away. He walks over and looks back and forth between Itachi and I.

"W-What are you doing?" I ask shifting uncomfortably under his gaze. Now the entire group is staring at us side by side.

"You two are related, aren't you?" Pein asks.

"What?" I say laughing nervously. "Where did you get that ridiculous idea?"

"Now that he mentions it," Sasori mutters. "You two look almost exactly alike."

I open my mouth to say something to change the subject when Itachi's voice interrupts. "It's true," he sighs. "Tora's my younger sister."

"What?" They all shout falling over backwards.

"You're an Uchiha?" Temari asks shocked.

"Yes. I'm actually Sasuke's twin." I say bitterly. "My real parents are rich and they decided to give me away and keep my brother." Tears threaten my eyes and I blink to clear then away. Kami, the truth hurts! My own parents didn't want me.

"That's so sad!" Konan says as her and Temari hug me.

"Is that why you hate Sasuke so much? Because they kept him and not you?" Temari asks.

"That and the fact that he's an ass." I answer. "Look you guys can't tell anyone about this, okay?" They all nod.

"Why do keep it a secret though?" Kakuzu asks. "Think of all the money you could have!"

"I'm happy where I am." I say. "I like living modestly and I could never leave the Namikaze family. They saved me from a terrible foster family and loved me like I was their own."

"Why did your parents give only you up?" Deidara asks.

"I don't know," I say sadly.

"I do," Itachi says. "I snuck into my Dad's study and stole his journal. The entry for you birthday said that our parents wanted another heir to the company, but it had to be a boy. When you where born first it automatically made you the second heir and Sasuke the third. So you were put up for adoption with the hope that you would never find out who you really are and claim your part of the company."

"That's the stupidest reason I've ever heard!" Deidara exclaims.

"I don't think I could ever give my own child up," Konan says. "Especially for a reason like that."

"Yeah," Temari agrees. "Don't worry Tora you're better off without people like that as your family."

"I know. I stopped worrying about them the moment Minato and Kushina took me in." I smile. "Maybe when I'm older I'll out myself as an Uchiha and claim my inheritance just to spite them, but for now we have gym." The bell rings directly after I say that and Temari and I turn to leave.

"Don't forget we're working on our project after school." Itachi says. "Do you want me to give a ride?"

"How about you cancel your limo service and ride with me?" I dare him. He absolutely hates my motorcycle and is terrified to ride it. "Or are you too much of a wuss?"

"I'm not a wuss," he says defensively. "I just don't want to die."

I just laugh and drag Temari down the stairs to the gym where we change and meet the others. "What happened to you two?" Kankuro asks as we sit down on the bleachers.

"Well it was bearable. Until they started sucking each other's faces off." I shudder. "So I sent a text to Itachi asking him to save us."

He opens his mouth to say something, but at that moment Gai-sensei bursts in followed by the Akatsuki. "Okay class! Today we will start our martial arts section. I invited a few seniors here to help me teach." He gestures to the Akatsuki. "I know many of you have never done martial arts before so everyone spread out and we'll start with the basics."

Naruto and I smirk at each other as we get in line next to each other. "So we'll start with the basic stance." Sasori says stepping forward. "You want your feet about shoulder width apart with one a little further back than the other and your knees bent a little." Deidara steps forward and demonstrates.

"The blond one looks like a girl," Naruto whispers to me. I giggle and cover my mouth with my hand.

"Hey you!" Hidan shouts at me. "Do you think self defense is funny?" I know exactly what he's doing. He wants to single me out so he can fight me under the excuse that it was an example.

"No," I say. "But your face is." That earns a few giggles from the class.

"Get up here!" He fumes and I walk up confidently. "Tora here will be our example of what not to do when attacked."

We stand facing each other, Hidan in a fighting stance and me just standing there casually. "Watch carefully," Deidara says to the class. "Ready… begin!"

Hidan rushes forward and sends a punch at my head. I tilt it to the side and his fist flies right past me. He brings a leg up to kick me, but I block it sending a swift kick of my own at his chest. It makes contact and he goes flying back. "What was that about me being an example of what not to do?" I smirk.

"Shut up," he growls.

"Here Hidan," Pein says tossing him a bunch of wooden shuriken. "Use these."

"Now you're in trouble," Hidan smirks. He throws all of them at me, making it so the only place I can go is up. Sending a tiny bit of chakra to my legs, I jump into the air. "Gotcha," Hidan says appearing above me. I twist out of the way of his kick and flip while bringing my right leg down on his back. He shoots to the flood and lands on his face with a thud.

"I think he's had enough," Itachi says as I land lightly on the floor.

"Bitch," Hidan grumbles standing up.

"Another victory for the great Tora Namikaze!" Naruto cheers coming over and high fiving me.

"How did you do that?" Sakura asks in awe. Probably thinking that it was a stupid idea to be a bitch to me because I could kick her ass.

"Naruto and I have been training in martial arts since we were six." I shrug.

"Yeah, our Dad owns a dojo." Naruto says.

"Didn't I say all this yesterday when I explained that Kakashi is my sensei?" I ask.

"I think you did," Naruto answers.

"If you two are such great fighters than why don't you teach the class," Hidan says bitterly, his pride still wounded from me kicking his ass.

"We would," Naruto starts.

"But we don't have the patience for it." I finish.

"Can you two spar for us?" Kiba asks excitedly.

"Only if you want us to destroy the gym," Naruto says nonchalantly.

"How would you-"

"Sorry to interrupt, but can I borrow Naruto and Tora for a moment?" Kakashi asks striding into the gym.

"Ah, Kakashi! My eternal rival." Gai-sensei says. "Only if you beat me in a spar!"

"Sorry Gai-sensei," I say. "But Kakashi can't. He's still sore from me kicking his ass when we were training last night." I wink at Kakashi who gives me an annoyed look as I grab Naruto and drag him out of the gym, grabbing Kakashi on the way.

"You're such a pain in my ass." Kakashi says once we're in the hallway. "I'll never get Gai to shut up about your little comment."

"You know you love me," I tease. "Anyways, what did you need?"

"I wanted to tell you that I placed the tracking device on the Uchiha's car. And I wanted to give you this," he says tossing a small device to Naruto. "Put this in his cellphone when you get the chance."

"Okay," Naruto says.

"And I talked to Itachi and he said he could get us access to the Uchiha mansion's security system. So there's no need to set up surveillance when you're over there later." He says to me. "Now get back to class."

"Yes sir!" We say simultaneously with mock salutes.

"Slow down Tora! You're going to kill us!" Itachi shouts as his grip around my waist tightens. In response I increase the speed of my bike as we fly past the black iron gates of the Uchiha mansion. The huge brick building looms in front of me as I bring us to a halt in front of it. Itachi climbs off and falls to the ground. "Land!" He cries dramatically.

"Don't be such a wimp," I say and pull my helmet off.

"I'm not a wimp!"

"Yes you are," I tease.

"Just shut up," he grumbles. "Let's go in. I want to change before we start working."

"If you must," I sigh. We walk up a few marble steps to the front door and he opens it so I can go in. My jaw drops immediately as I notice the high ceiling with a crystal chandelier and the large wooden staircase that leads to the second level. Not to mention the shiny wooden floors and expensive paintings.

"If you don't close your mouth, you might catch flies." Itachi teases me as he starts walking up the staircase.

"Well excuse me for being shocked by all this," I say.

"Just follow me," he says leading me down a hallway to his room. My jaw drops again as I take in the large king sized bed with black silk sheets and the red painted walls covered in band posters. "I'll leave you to gape at everything while I go change." He goes to a dark wooden dresser and pulls out some clothes before going into what I assume is an adjoining bathroom.

I notice a bookcase against one wall and go over to inspect his collection. Oh my Kami! He has the latest chapter of the Vampire Knight manga! I never pegged Itachi as the kind to read this kind of stuff. I run over and jump on his bed. Kami, it's like sleeping on a cloud! I open up the book and begin to read.

"Are you enjoying my book?" Itachi asks as he comes out of his bathroom in an old pair of jeans and a dark red t-shirt.

"Actually I'm enjoying it a lot." I smirk looking over the top of the book at him.

"Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you have to put it down so we can go work on our project."

"Fine," I grumble and get up off of his amazing bed. "So where are we working on it?"

"I have a barn in the back of the house with everything we need." He says and leads me out of his room to the back of the house. My jaw drops yet again as I take in the in ground swimming pool, basketball court, tennis court, and huge flower garden. The only downfall was that Sakura and Matsuri were lying out by the pool while Sasuke and Gaara were in the water. Kami really must hate me today.

"Oh look guys, it's the commoner." Sakura sneers.

"Oh look Itachi! Someone left their cows out by your pool!" I exclaim. "You should probably call animal control. That poor farmer must be worried sick about them."

"I'll get right on that," he smirks.

"Itachi control your pet," Sasuke says as he gets out of the pool.

"Oh Sasuke," Itachi says. "It's funny that you think I care that Tora's insulting your girlfriend."

"It's funny that he thinks I'm the pet." I laugh. "We all know you're the animal in this relationship while I'm the owner."

"Come on we have a project to do," he says leading me to a grey barn right behind the pool. "We have to work outside. Right now my space is a bit full." He opens the door to reveal a half built Firebird and an array of tools littering the floor and hanging on the wall.

"I didn't know you were into rebuilding old cars," I say surprised.

"Yeah. Dad and I bought this thing as a bucket of rust a few years ago. He gave up on it once he got too busy, but I just couldn't leave it here unfinished. So I work on it in my spare time."

"Awesome."

"We should start by working on a design for the catapult first."

"Already got that covered." I reach into my bag and pull out my sketchbook. I flip it to the right page and hand it to him.

"This is perfect!" He exclaims and we get to work. We work with barely any distractions, except for me sneaking peeks at Gaara. "You like him, don't you?" Itachi asks in a low voice so only I can hear.

"Is it that obvious?" I ask.

"Only to someone who's known you for a long time." He says.

"Thank Kami." I mutter. "Who knows what that whiney ass, bitch he calls a girlfriend would do if she found out."

"Oh Gaara!" Matsuri's high-pitched voice trills loud enough for us to hear. "Can you come put some sunscreen on my back?"

"I'm guessing something like that," Itachi says, but I'm not paying attention to him. My eyes are glued to Gaara as he climbs out of the pool; water running down his perfectly muscled body. I hope I'm not drooling. "Earth to Tora!" Itachi snaps his fingers in front of my face.

"Sorry," I say. "Can we do something else and finish this another day?"

"Want to go swimming?" He asks.

"I don't have a swim suit though." I say.

"No problem." He says. "Konan and your friend Suzume found a bikini top at the mall yesterday after you left that they said just screamed Tora. They gave it to me to give to you, so you can wear that and a pair of my swim trunks."

"Yay!" I cheer and jump up dragging him to the house ignoring the strange looks I was getting from the four in the pool. Itachi leads us back to his room and goes to a bag on the floor by his bed. He pulls out a neon pink bikini top with black jewels on it. "They were right! I love this!" I squeal.

"Here you can borrow my black swimsuit." Itachi says handing it to me and I run into his bathroom to change. The top fit perfectly and Itachi's swimsuit fit once I tied it tighter. I pull my hair out of the ponytail I put it in this morning and let it fall in waves around my shoulders. "I'm ready." I say stepping out to see Itachi in a black swimsuit with a red dragon on the right leg.

"Let's go," he smiles and leads us back out of the house. I look at the empty pool and people lying right next to it as an evil plan forms in my head. "What are you thinking?"

"You'll see," I grin evilly.

"Kami help us all." Itachi says as I take off sprinting towards the pool.

"Cannon ball!" I shout as I jump and land in the water with a huge splash. I come up from underwater to Sakura and Matsuri screeching and Itachi laughing his ass off.

"You little bitch! You got my hair wet!" Sakura screams.

"I wasn't aware that you would melt if water touched you," I laugh. "Then again I should have guessed it considering you are the Wicked Bitch of the West."

"The what?" Matsuri asks stupidly.

"Don't worry about it," I say rolling my eyes.

"Hey Tora!" Itachi shouts. "Look out!"

I look up and scream as he lands on top of me dragging me underwater. "You jerk!" I shout as our heads come back above water.

"At least I warned you," he laughs.

"Yeah something you're not gonna get." I growl dunking his head under water. After half a minute of his struggling I allow him to come up for air. "Paybacks a bitch, huh Itachi?" I ask as I pull myself up to sit on the edge of the pool.

"Yeah, it is." He says before lunging at me and tickling my sides.

"S-stop it I-Itachi." I laugh as my stomach starts to hurt. "I can't- I can't breathe!"  
"Apologize for dunking me!"

"N-never!" I gasp.

"Then I'm not gonna stop." He smirks.

"Okay, okay! I'm s-sorry!"

"For what?"

"For d-dunking yo-ou!"

"Good girl," he says releasing me.

"Are you two dating or something?" Sakura asks.

"Ew! No way!" I shout. "Itachi's like an older brother to me!"

"Yup we're practically siblings," Itachi says.

"You know what we should do?" I ask Itachi.

"What?"

"Chicken fight!" I shout. "So who wants to be the challengers?" I ask the three preps and Gaara.

"I'll fight," Sasuke says.

"Me too," Gaara adds.

"Good," Itachi says. "Sasuke can go on my shoulders and Tora on Gaara's." Did he just say… me on Gaara's shoulders? His shirtless shoulders… Does Itachi want me to pass out?

"Why do I have to go on your shoulders?" Sasuke asks.

"Because, there has to be one group of two guys and I figure it'll be less awkward for you to be on my shoulders because we're brothers." Itachi answers.

"Unless you'd rather go on Gaara's shoulders," I smirk.

"No, I'm good with Itachi." He says quickly. He and Gaara both get in the water. Gaara goes under in front of me so I can get on his shoulders and I get on. I better not faint. Gaara stands up and a rush of cool air hits my body. I grab onto the top of his head in order to keep my balance and try to ignore the tingling in my legs where his hands are holding on to keep me from falling.

He turns to face Itachi who already has Sasuke on his shoulders and I glare over at them, my competitive side taking over. "You're going down Uchiha."

"Not if I take you down first," he smirks.

"That's the lamest comeback I've ever heard. What are we six?" I ask.

"If you two are done with your weak attempt at trash talking, can we get on with this?" Itachi asks.

"You mean his weak attempt." I say pointedly.

"Whatever let's just do this." Gaara sighs.

"Sakura!" Sasuke shouts.

"Yes?" She asks looking up from a magazine.

"Count down to go for us."

"Hey what's that lard ass doing on my boyfriend!" Matsuri sneers.

"Did you seriously not pay attention to the conversation we just had?" I ask. "Man, you're stupider than I thought. And besides I'm all muscle, there's hardly and fat on my body. The perks of being a martial artist."

"Just count down already!" Itachi exclaims.

"Fine three… two… one… go!" Sakura shouts and Sasuke and I lock hands trying to push each other back. "Go Sasuke!" Sakura cheers.

"Come on Tora, push him off already!" Gaara exclaims.

"Don't let her do it Sasuke! Knock her off!" Itachi shouts.

"I'm going to end this right here," I say and push with all my strength, which is quite a bit. Sasuke starts to fall backwards into the water taking Itachi with him. "Victory!" I shout throwing my hands in the air.

"Not for long!" Sasuke says as Itachi pulls Gaara's feet out from under him. We both fall into the water, me falling off his shoulders. Popping up from underwater I attack the first Uchiha I see, which just so happens to be Sasuke. I tackle him plunging both of us into the water.

"You Uchiha's are such sore losers!" I laugh as we come up for air.

"Tora look out!" Gaara shouts and I just manage to duck out of the way of Itachi so he ends up colliding with Sasuke.

"Thanks Gaara," I say and smile at him.

"No problem," he smiles back and I feel like I'm literally about to melt as I feel the heat rise in my face. Stupid body, don't fucking blush!

"Itachi!" I shout trying to distract myself from Gaara.

"What do you want?" He sighs.

"Cookies!" I say happily.

"We don't have any cookies." He says.

"Then let's make some!"

"Cookies will make you even fatter than you are now," Matsuri snickers.

"Do I look like I give a fuck?" I ask her blankly.

"We're not making cookies," Itachi says.

"Please," I pout giving him my cutest look.

"No." Damn, I must be loosing my touch. Time to amp up the cuteness.

"Pretty pwease?" I ask in a childish voice.

"Fine," he sighs. "Just don't destroy the kitchen."

"Yay!" I cheer and jump out of the pool. "Come on Itachi!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming." He says getting out of the pool. He slowly makes his way over to me and leads me to his room so we can get dressed. I run into the bathroom and speed dress before running back out.

"So where's the kitchen?" I ask Itachi as he pulls his shirt on.

"Follow me." He leads me to a large kitchen filled with stainless steel appliances. I rush over to the pantry and dig through until I find a bag of chocolate chips with a recipe on the back.

"Can you mix the dry ingredients while I take care of the rest?" I ask Itachi.

"Sure," he says going to retrieve some flour, baking soda, and salt. I turn my attention to their red Kitchen Aide and put in butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla before setting it to mix on low.

"Hey Tora?" Itachi's voice says behind m.

"Yes?" I ask. As I turn around to see what he needs I'm enveloped by a white cloud.

"Gotcha!" He laughs.

"You are so dead, Uchiha!" I growl.

"Only if you catch me!" He shouts and runs out of the kitchen.

"Get back here!" I yell chasing after him, only to run into his back as I exit the kitchen. I let out and oof and fall back on my butt. "What the hell Itachi?" I grumble standing up.

"Mom, Dad." Itachi says quietly and those two words cause my insides to freeze. "You're home early."

"Our meetings ended faster than we expected." A deep masculine voice says and I peek over Itachi's shoulder at Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha, the people who gave me up.

"Who's your friend?" Mikoto asks in a kind voice as her eyes, replicas of mine, study me.

"I'm Tora Namikaze," I say with a forced smile as I step out from behind Itachi.

"It's nice to meet you, Tora. I'm Mikoto, Itachi's mother." She smiles holding out a hand for me to shake. I take her hand and try to fight back the wave of nausea that goes through my body. "And this is my husband Fugaku."

"You've got a little something all over your head and shirt." Fugaku laughs.

"That would be Itachi's fault," I growl and smack said person on the back of the head.

"Ouch!" He exclaims rubbing where I hit. "That hurt."

"It's what you get for throwing flour on me!" I say and stick my tongue out at him.

"You can go clean up in the bathroom," Mikoto laughs. "Dinner will be in ten minutes. Would you like to eat with us Tora?"

"I wouldn't want to intrude." I say.

"Nonsense," Mikoto says. "We'd love to have you! Besides it's only pizza tonight because Sasuke has friends over."

"Yeah, it'll be nice to have a level headed girl for dinner instead of those airheads Sasuke hangs out with." Fugaku mutters and runs a hand through his dark brown hair, the exact same shade as mine.

"Thank you," I smile. "I'd love to stay for dinner."

"Come on, you can use my bathroom," Itachi says dragging me to his room. "I'm sorry you had to see them. I thought they were working late tonight."

"It's okay," I say. "They seem like nice people. Hell, if I wasn't living proof I would never believe they could give their child up."

"I know, but it must have been painful to see them."

"I've gotten over the fact that they gave me up." I shrug. "If they didn't I would never have become a Namikaze because Minato would have never saved me from Orochimaru. I wouldn't be who I am today. Chances are I'd be more like Sakura."

"You're right," he sighs. "Now go clean yourself up."

"Okay," I say and enter his bathroom. I pull off my ruined shirt to reveal a black camisole and wash the flour from my arms and face. I then rinse my hair in the sink along with my shirt, which is beyond cleaning without sending it through the wash. I grab a fluffy red towel from a closet and dry my hair as best I can. "I'm done," I say walking out.

"Could you cover yourself?" Itachi asks looking at my camisole that shows quite a bit of cleavage and ends just above my belly button.

"You're the one that ruined my shirt," I laugh and walk past him out of the room. "You have to deal with it."

Itachi grudgingly leads me to the dinning room where everyone's already waiting. Gaara and Sasuke's eyes nearly fall out of their heads as they stare at me. I just roll my eyes and take a seat in between Sasuke and Itachi. Gaara sits across from me in between Sakura and Matsuri, who are still in their bikini tops, while Fugaku and Mikoto sit at the ends of the table.

"Let's eat," Sasuke says as he literally drools over the pizza sitting in front of us. The boys all grab four slices each while Sakura and Matsuri cut one in half and share it. I of course out do the boys and grab an entire pepperoni pizza.

"Are you sure you can eat all that?" Gaara asks me with a raised eyebrow.

"Kakashi's training's sped up my metabolism a lot so I have to eat a lot in order to stay energized." I answer.

"So Tora," Fugaku starts. "I didn't know that Minato and Kushina had a daughter."

"You know Minato and Kushina?" I ask surprised.

"Back when we were younger Kushina and I were best friends." Mikoto says sadly. "The last time we spoke was after Sasuke's 4th birthday when we had a fight."

"Oh," I say awkwardly. "Kushina and Minato adopted me when I was six."

"What happened to your real parents? If you don't mind me asking." Fugaku says.

"Not at all. They actually gave me up when I was born." I say sadly. "All I ever got out of my case worker was that they were rich and that before they gave me up they requested that I be named Tora." I wonder if they'll connect the dots to themselves. I doubt it; they've probably already forgotten the little girl they gave up.

"That must have been hard on you." Mikoto says sympathetically.

"It was when I was little, but I eventually realized that it's their loss and they missed out on raising an amazing daughter." I smile.

"Amazing's not one of the words I would use to describe you," Sakura snorts.

"Fashionably challenged is what I would use," Matsuri laughs.

"It's cut that you two feel the need to insult me to cover up the fact that you're jealous of me." I giggle.

"Us? Jealous of you?" Sakura laughs.

"What's not to be jealous of?" I ask. "I've got good looks, a killer body, an amazing personality, and I'm an awesome athlete which immediately draws guys' attention to me. As opposed to you flat chested, scrawny ass, bitches." I laugh.

"How dare-" Sakura's screech is cut off by the chorus of Astronaut by Simple Plan. I pull my phone out of my bag and see Minato's picture flash across the screen.

"Excuse me, but I have to take this." I say standing up and going into the hallway. "Minato?"

"Tora, you need to get down to the hospital right away!" His slightly frantic voice says on the other end.

"What happened?" I ask panic rising in my chest.

"Jirya's been hurt. I'll give you the details later, but if we don't get someone with medical ninjutsu down here now he could die! He's beyond the help of normal doctors!"

"Why doesn't Tsunade heal him?" I ask. "She's the best medic ninja we have."

"She's too much of a mess to help him."

"Okay, I'm on my way." I press the end call button and rush into the dining room.

"What's wrong?" Itachi asks sensing my panic as soon as I enter.

"I have to go," I say grabbing my bag.

"Why?" He asks.

"Jirya's in the hospital and the doctors say it's serious!"

"Do you want a ride?" He asks.

"I'll be fine. Thank you for your hospitality." I say to Fugaku and Mikoto as I rush out of the house. I jump on my bike and speed off towards the hospital. Hang in there Jirya, I'm on my way!

What happened to Jirya? Even I don't know yet, but I will come up with something soon :) Finally update this story! I'm sorry that it's been a while, but managing two stories is hard... Aren't Itachi and Tora such great siblings? So I've decided that I'm going to alternate between updating this story and my other one, so expect updates every week or two. Summer vaction started for me and it's makeing it a bit hard to write because I get distracted by so much stuff at home, but I will try my very best to keep on track with my stories :)

~C.S.


	6. Chapter 5

"How is he doing?" I ask as I burst into the hospital room the receptionist told me Jirya was in. The first thing my eyes land on is Jirya lying in a bed in the middle of the room. He has white gauze wrapped around his head and is hooked up to a bunch of different IVs.

"Not good." Minato says and I turn my attention to him. "The doctors say he's bleeding internally and there's nothing they can do to stop it."

"It's all that bastard Orochimaru's fault," Kakashi growls. I look over in his direction to see him slumped in a chair with his left arm in a black cast and cuts all over his face.

"Really? What happened?" I ask curiously.

"We'll discuss that after you heal Jirya," Minato says. "Just tell us what you need."

"Okay. I'm going to need you to keep any doctors and nurses as far away from this room as possible." I say. "Kakashi, I need you to watch the door and make sure no one else comes in, even if it's Tsunade or another shinobi, got it?"

"Yes ma'am," They say and go to do their tasks. I turn my attention to Jirya and walk over to the bed. I activate my medical ninjutsu and move my glowing hands over his body to assess the damage. A few broken ribs, minor cuts here and there, but the worst of the damage is where one of his ribs cut up the tissue around it causing serious internal bleeding. I'll have to work fast; he's already lost too much blood. I move my hands to the area of the shredded tissue and lightly press them down. I can feel the jutsu doing it's work and healing the damaged tissue. After a few minutes I focus my attention on mending the major breaks in his ribcage.

"Done," I sigh stepping back and sitting down in a chair next to the bed.

"I'll inform Minato and the others." Kakashi says stepping out of the room. I lean back and close my eyes as I hear the other's enter the room.

"Is Pervy-sage gonna be okay?" I hear Naruto ask.

"He's gonna be just fine," I sigh opening my eyes to look at my brother. "What exactly happened to him?"

"It was all Orochimaru," Kakashi says bitterly and we all turn to look at him. "We were doing a sweep of the city, searching for the lair, when we ran into the bastard and Kabuto in an alley. In the end we caused enough noise to attract the attention of the public and the cops were on the scene. Orochimaru and Kabuto got away."

"Did they at least get away in worse condition than you guys?" I ask.

"Of course," Kakashi scoffs. "If it weren't for the cops showing up Kabuto would be dead right now."

"Damn cops," I mutter.

"I-is he going t-to be okay," A weak voice sniffles and we all turn to see Tsunade, with Kushina and Shizune behind her, enter the room. The first things I notice are her puffy eyes and red nose. This whole experience must be horrible for her, considering she's already lost her brother and an old boyfriend to the shinobi world.

"He's going to be fine," I smile, getting up and wrapping my arms around my Godmother.

"Thank Kami," she cries and buries her head into my shoulder. I feel a wave of anger start in the pit of my stomach. How dare that snake bastard do this? Next time I see him I won't hesitate to kill him, he deserves it! I look at Naruto and see that he has the same look in his eyes. Orochimaru better watch out!

"Where were you when I called you?" Minato asks. "You got here pretty fast. Were you close?"

"Close? No." I laugh handing off Tsunade to Shizune. "I sped."

"Normally I would ground you for admitting that," Kushina sighs. "But since it was an emergency I'll let you off the hook."

"Weren't you at Itachi's?" Naruto asks.

"Yeah," I smile. "It was so much fun! We went swimming and Sasuke, Gaara, Sakura, and Matsuri were there and I did a cannon ball and soaked the girls! And then we had a chicken fight and I got to go up against Sasuke and kicked his ass!"

"Seriously?" Naruto laughs. "Weren't you supposed to be working on a physics project?"

"We worked on it for a while," I say quickly before Kushina can scold me. "By the way, you never told me you were friends with the Uchiha's." I look at Minato and Kushina who look away with guilty expressions.

"That was a long time ago," Kushina says sadly.

"Mikoto said the last time you guys spoke you fought. What was it about?" I ask curiously.

"It was actually about you," Minato says putting a hand on his wife's shoulder.

"It was four years after you and Sasuke were born that I found out that she gave you up," Kushina sighs. "I was so angry at Mikoto. How could someone give up their own daughter? And for such selfish reasons!" Tears begin to build up in her eyes and I move forward to hug her.

"Thank you," I whisper as tears silently fall down my face. "You didn't even know me then and you still stood up for me, like you do now."

"And I'll continue to do it," she whispers back. "It doesn't matter what blood tests say, you're my daughter and I wouldn't give you up for the world."

"I love you," I mutter.

"I love you too," she says back.

"You can't even begin to imagine how awkward I felt when I met them," I laugh releasing Kushina. "The only good part about dinner was the pizza." My phone makes a chiming sound, signaling I have a text.

Temari: Can you come over?

Me: Don't know. Why?

Temari: I need someone to talk to. Boy troubles :'(

Me: Send me the address and I'll be there as soon as I can.

"I'm sorry guys, but I have to go now." I say.

"Why?" Naruto asks.

"Boy trouble with a friend," I sigh. "Is it okay if I spend the night at their house? Depending on the situation I may have to."

"It's fine," Kushina says. "Just don't stay up too late, you still have school tomorrow."

"We won't."

"Due to what happened tonight our all night training for tomorrow is cancelled." Kakashi says and I cheer. "No need to sound so happy. It's not that bad."

"Yes it is!" I shout and run out of the room to my bike. Luckily Temari doesn't live too far away so I'll be there quickly. I pull up in front of a mansion, not quite as big as the Uchiha's, but bigger than a normal house. I park my motorcycle on the side of the driveway and walk up to the large front door. I ring the doorbell and wait, but Kami seems to hate me today because Kankuro's the one who opens the door.

"Let me guess," he smirks. "You couldn't get enough of me at school and are here to profess your undying love to me."

"Not a chance," I say. "I'm here to see Temari."

"Why? Is something wrong with her? She's been in her room since she got home and won't come out. I just assumed it was that time of the month," he shrugs.

"Can you just take me to her room?" I sigh.

"Of course, right this way." He gestures grandly and I follow him into the house. He leads me through a maze of hallways, up the stairs and stops at a door on our right. "This is my room, but hers is the one across the hall."

"Thanks," I say and turn my back on him. I knock on Temari's door.

"Go away!" She shouts.

"Temari," I say gently. "It's me, Tora." It's silent for a few seconds before the door opens to reveal a puffy eyed Temari.

"What happened?" I ask and immediately wrap my arms around her, letting the door close behind me.

"Shi-shikamaru br-broke up with m-me," she sniffles.

"Why?" I ask as I lead her to her queen sized bed and we sit down amidst the golden comforter.

"He g-got accepted t-to a school f-for genius' in Am-America!" She sobs. "He sa-said a long distance re-relation-ship is t-to tr-troublesome!"

"Well Shikamaru's an idiot for not realizing that you're so worth the trouble of a long distance relationship," I soothe.

"R-Really?" She hiccups.

"Yeah," I smile. "You're beautiful, smart, fiery, fun, and strong. Any guy would be lucky to have you. Shikamaru is the stupidest guy in the world for giving you up. Now let's get you cleaned up and we can go eat ice cream and I'll tell you about my interesting trip to the Uchiha mansion to take your mind off of stupid pineapple head."

"Okay." I lead her into the bathroom where we wash her face. After that I wait on her bed while she changes into a pair of pajamas. "Here you can wear these." She tosses me a pair of black pajama pants with red skulls that are the opposites of her red with black skulls. I walk into her bathroom and pull off my jeans before changing into the pants. I then pull my slightly damp, from washing it and Temari's tears, T-shirt and straighten out my camisole.

"Come on," I say walking out of the bathroom.

"You do realize there are boys in this house?" She asks pointing at my revealing tank.

"Trust me it's fine," I say. "This is what I wore through an entire dinner with the Uchiha's."

"You had dinner with them!" She exclaims.

"That's not even the best part of the story," I smirk. "But let's get our ice cream first."

"You better tell me the whole story. Leave out any details and I'll kill you," she threatens as she leads us down to the kitchen. Looking in the freezer she pulls out a tub of vanilla ice cream. She then pulls out two bowls, chocolate syrup, whip cream, cherries, and sprinkles.

"So I'll start from the beginning I guess. We got there and when we walked outside to Itachi's garage Sasuke, Sakura, Matsuri, and your brother were there and were hanging out in the pool." I begin. "Itachi and I tried working on our catapult, but I kept getting distracted by… something."

"And what would this something be?" She asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing," I say quickly trying to hide my blushing face.

"What was it?" She coaxes.

"Don't worry about it," I mumble.

"Tell me!" She demands. "Or I'll tell everyone about your little family thing."

"Now you're just playing dirty!" I say looking at her.

"All is fair in love and war," she smirks. "Now tell me!"

"Promise not to laugh?"

"I swear on my life."

"Okay," I sigh and lean in to whisper in her ear. "I was distracted by… Gaara's shirtless body."

"Seriously?" She asks and I nod. She bursts out laughing like crazy.

"You promised not to laugh!" I whine hiding my heated face.

"I-I'm sorry," she giggles. "So you have a crush on him?"

"Have a crush on who?" Kankuro asks as he and Gaara, who is once again shirtless, enter the kitchen.

"Oh Kami," I mutter and hide my face in my hands. "Could this getting any worse?"

"It could." Temari teases. "I could tell them."

"You wouldn't!" I growl and glare at my supposed friend.

"I would," she smirks. "But I'm not that mean."

"Thank Kami," I sigh in relief.

"So what did you do after it became clear you couldn't focus?" Temari asks.

"Itachi and I went swimming!" I say excitedly. "He had this bathing suit top that Konan bought for me after I had to leave the mall yesterday and I borrowed a pair of his swim trunks. When we got out there I did a cannon ball and soaked Matsuri and Sakura!"

"They must have been so pissed!" Temari laughs.

"They were," Gaara grumbles as he grabs a bowl out of the cupboard. "When you and Itachi left we had to listen to them bitch about it."

"Oh! Then we had a chicken fight!" I exclaim.

"Who went against who?" Kankuro asked sitting on a stool at an island counter.

"Gaara and I against Sasuke and Itachi." I smile. "I, of course, knocked that asshole Uchiha into the water!"

"Yeah, then he pulled my feet out from under me and sent us toppling into the water," Gaara mutters. "If you're not gonna scoop your ice cream can you get out of the way so I can scoop mine?"

"Nope," Temari says and she turns to the counter to scoop some ice cream into our bowls. I drizzle some chocolate syrup on them and put some whipped cream on top. Temari adds the cherries and sprinkles along with some spoons. "And just to spite you, we're going to stand in front of the stuff so you can't have any."

"Then I'll just eat yours," he growls leaning forward to capture a spoonful of ice cream, that I was just about to eat, in his mouth. He pulls back with a smile as I try to force the blush on my cheeks to go away. "Delicious." He licks his lips and it's becoming really hard for me not to blush. My heart is beating a million times per minute and my breath quickens. I think I'm having a heart attack.

"Jerk!" Temari shouts hitting her brother on the head. "If there's one thing you should never do, it's steal a woman's sweets."

"It's okay," I say recovering from my near heart attack. "I'll just have to get him back."

"How are you going to do that?" Gaara asks raising a nonexistent eyebrow.

"I'll just tell your girlfriend." I smile evilly. "I'm sure she'll love to hear about it."

"You wouldn't." He says his whole body freezing.

"You wanna bet?" I smirk.

"Please don't," he pleads. "She'll overreact and that's one headache I want to avoid."

"Fine," I say. "But you owe me and trust me, I will collect."

"I don't care," he says. "As long as she doesn't find out!"

"So what happened after you went swimming?" Temari asks changing the topic. "I wanna hear how the dinner went!"

"Well, I got a strange craving for cookies so I forced Itachi to bake them with me." I say picking up my story where I left off. "But he threw flour on me and I chased him out of the kitchen. That's when we ran into his parents."

"Awkward," Temari grimaces.

"They were so nice to me and invited me to stay for dinner." I sigh. "Not wanting to be rude, I accepted and went to Itachi's room to clean the flour off of me. My shirt was destroyed so I had to wear this tank top which made things a lot more awkward."

"Why?" Kankuro asks. "You look pretty sexy in it."

"I know," I smirk. "But sexy isn't what I normally go for when having dinner with my best friend's parents."

"Did they comment on your clothing?" Temari asks.

"No, but they did comment on not knowing that the Namikaze's had a daughter. So I told them I was adopted and that led them to ask who my real parents are."

"That must have been hard," Temari says sympathetically.

"Doesn't matter," I mumble. "Then I got into some stupid petty argument with Sakura and Matsuri about how amazing I am. After that my phone rang and my dad told me that my godfather's in the hospital. I rushed there, but he was going to be fine. That's when you messaged me and I came over."

"Don't take this the wrong way," Temari says. "But hearing about your messed up day is making me feel better about Shika breaking up with me."

"Don't worry about it," I smile. "That's why I told you."

"Wanna watch a movie to take your mind off of your awkward day?" She asks.

"What movie?" I ask.

"Pitch Perfect."

"That's my favorite movie ever!" I shout.

"I'll take that as a yes," she laughs. "Come on the TV room's this way."

"We're coming too," Kankuro says as he and Gaara follow us to a room with plush couches, surround sound, and a 62in plasma screen TV.

"Damn," I mumble and plop down on one of the couches. Temari puts the movie in and sits next to me, while Gaara sits on my other side. Of all the places in the room he can sit, why does he have to choose the spot right next to me? Kankuro hits the lights before lying down on the floor in front of us. Temari hits play and I turn my attention to the TV.

Temari and Kankuro fall asleep halfway through it and by the end I'm fighting to stay awake. As soon as the credits start I let my eyes drift shut as sleep overtakes me.

My eyes blink open, but close instantly to block out the harsh light. I shift my body so that I can rub my eyes with my hands. I let out a yawn as I reopen my eyes to take in my surroundings. I'm in the same room we were in last night. Kankuro is lying on the floor at my feet, snoring lightly, while Temari is curled up on the couch next to me.

Something shifts under me and my eyes widen as I realize I'm cuddled up with somebody. If Temari and Kankuro are over there than that means… shit. I slowly move my head to look up and my onyx eyes connect with bright sea green orbs. A blush overtakes my face and I turn my head to hide it, but sadly Kami hates me and I end up hiding it in Gaara's chest.

I feel his body vibrated underneath me. He's laughing at me! How dare he? "You're cute when you're embarrassed," his deep voice whispers in my ear causing my face to heat up even more.

"Idiot," I mumble back and he laughs again. "Stop laughing at me!"

"Why?" He asks.

"Because I hate when people laugh at me and I'm not trying to be funny!" I look up to glare at him.

"You shouldn't be mad; I'm only laughing because I think you look adorable right now." He smiles softly and I realize our lips are only millimeters away. My heart feels as if it's about to explode as his hand strokes my hair lightly. I try to turn my face away, but his other hand stops me by caressing my cheek. "You really are beautiful." This has to be a dream.

"Don't you have a girlfriend?" I breath and just like that the dream is shattered by reality. His body stiffens before he gently pushes me off him and stands up.

"We should probably wake them up and get ready for school," he says avoiding eye contact.

"Yeah," I say slightly disappointed. What did I expect him to do? He has a girlfriend and I'm… well, me. He wakes up Kankuro while I push Temari off the couch.

"Why the hell'd you do that?" She whines rubbing her head.

"It seemed like the easiest way to wake you up." I shrug.

"Jerk," she mumbles. "Come on, you can borrow some of my clothes for school. You're so damn lucky you don't have to wear the uniform."

"You just have to have the right connections," I say as we go back to her room. I slip on the pair of jeans I was wearing yesterday and a plain black T-shirt that Temari gave to me.

"Do you need a ride?" She asks me as she comes out of her bathroom in her school uniform.

"Nah, my motorcycle's parked outside." I say. We walk into the kitchen and my senses are assaulted by the smell of breakfast. My stomach growls and my mouth begins to water. Gaara's standing at the stove flipping some pancakes while Kankuro is chowing down at the island counter.

"Hungry?" Gaara asks as he turns around to place two plates full of pancakes and bacon on the island.

"Extremely," I say sitting down at a stool and digging in. I finish my plate in record time and hold it up. "More please."

"Where does she put it all?" Temari asks in disbelief as I finish my third plate.

"When you train with Kakashi you burn through a lot of calories, so I have to eat a lot of food throughout the day for when training comes." I say nonchalantly.

"What do you two do that you burn through so many calories?" Kankuro asks.

"It depends on the day." I shrug. "Sometimes we go on 10k runs, other times we spend hours in the weight room, but we always spar. I beat him 50 percent of the time."

"A 10k run!" Kankuro exclaims. "I can barely make it 1k!"

"Don't feel bad, I've been doing it since I was six." I say. "Anyways I should get going; I still get a bit lost when I try to find my classes."

"Oh, can you take Gaara with you?" Temari asks. "He has morning detention with Kakashi because he was caught making out with Matsuri in the halls. Kankuro and I have to pick up Hinata and Neji today and if he comes with us he'll be late and get in even more trouble."

"I-I guess," I answer her as thoughts of what happened this morning flood my brain.

"Thanks! I owe ya." She says.

"Come on," I say to Gaara and exit the kitchen without checking to see if he's following. Luckily the kitchen's right by the front door so I don't have to ask for directions through the house. I open the door and shiver as a cool breeze hits my bare arms. I walk over to my bike and grab my jacket and spare helmet out of the seat compartment. "I hope you're not scared of motorcycles because I drive fast."

"Don't worry, I'm not." He says taking the helmet out of my hands. I pull on my jacket and helmet then climb onto my bike. Gaara climbs on behind me as I rev the engine. He wraps his arms around my waist and I feel my face heat up. Thank Kami my helmet covers my face, but his arms feel really good around my waist… Damn it! Snap out of it Tora! With a shake of my head I take off down his driveway and weave in and out of traffic to get to school.

I forget about the fact that Gaara's behind me with his arms wrapped around me as the adrenaline rush takes over. Kami I love this feeling. The school comes into site too quickly for my liking and I bring us to a halt in the parking lot. The only cars in the student parking lot are the hideous pink Mustang and a navy blue Charger.

"Thanks for the ride," Gaara says as he hands my helmet back to me. I pull mine off and secure it to the handle bars.

"You're going to Kakashi's room right?" I ask.

"Yeah."

"Could you, uh, show me how to get there?" I ask with an embarrassed laugh. "I still don't, um, know my way around the school."

"Sure, no problem." He says walking away.

"Thanks." I follow after him and when we reach Kakashi's room I rush in and jump on my sensei. "Kakashi!"

"What are you doing Tora?" He asks in an annoyed voice.

"Well, I was so worried about Jirya last night that I forgot to worry about you." I smile noticing that there wasn't a cast on his arm anymore. He probably had one of the medic ninja's heal it last night when he got out of the hospital.

"You do realize we're in the school, right?"

"Yeah, why?" I ask getting down from his back.

"Because I have kids in detention right now." He gestures to the desk where Matsuri, Sakura, Sasuke, and now Gaara are sitting.

"Aw, am I ruining your tough guy act by jumping on you?" I tease.

"Why are you here so early?"

"I still get lost and I was going to get a better feel of the school's layout and I spent the night at Temari's and she asked me to give Gaara a ride here, so that he wouldn't be late for detention." I answer.

"What?" Matsuri shrieks. "How dare you stay at my boyfriend's house!"

"Oh calm down," I mutter. "I was there for his sister." It was just a bonus that I fell asleep cuddled next to him…

"It doesn't matter; I'm not allowed to stay at his house so you aren't either!"

"Maybe if you weren't such a bitch, Temari would be friends with you and you would have an excuse to spend the night at their house without saying you're going over to see your boyfriend." I roll my eyes.

"That's a great idea!" She says excitedly.

"Hate to burst you bubble," I say sarcastically. "But Temari wouldn't be friends with you."

"Why wouldn't she?" She asks.

"Yeah, why wouldn't she want to be friends with one of the most popular girls in the school?" Sakura asks stupidly.

"Well one, you're a bitch." I say holding up my index finger. "Two, you're whiney. Three, your voice tends to give people the urge to punch you in the face. And four, she's not stupid and would know you're only doing it so you could spend the night with her little brother."

"How dare you!" She screams. "Gaara are you just gonna sit there while she insults me?"

"She's right though." He shrugs. "Those are all things Temari's said about you."

"Dude, you should probably defend her if you don't wanna hear about it later," Sasuke says to Gaara.

"You four stop talking!" Kakashi says sharply. "You're in detention. And Tora can you please not provoke them?"

"Why not?" I ask sitting on his desk. "It's fun!"

"I don't care if it's fun or not. You're lucky Tsunade's in charge; otherwise you'd end up getting me fired."

"Yeah, that makes it so much easier to get away with stuff since Granny Tsunade's in charge." I laugh. "But I'll regret it later when she beats my ass at the dojo."

"Then she beats mine and Minato's for not being able to control you." He sighs.

"Yup," I giggle. "That's the best part! Speaking of Granny Tsunade, how's she dealing with what happened to Jirya?"

"She's doing fine; she came to work today because there's supposed to be another new student."

"Oh really?" I ask. "A boy or girl."

"Boy, actually she's on her way down here because he's in my first period class."

"So he gets a tour of the school on his first day? She left Naruto and I to find the way on our own!" There's a knock on the door and Kakashi goes to answer it.

"Is this the new kid?" Kakashi asks and I lean on the desk to try and get a good look at the kid.

"Yeah," Tsunade sighs as she walks in. "Hey Tora."

"Sup Granny Tsunade," I smile.

"I told you not to call me that, it makes me feel old!" she growls and turns to look outside in the hall. "Don't be shy, come in."

I look from Granny Tsunade to the boy who just entered the room. My eyes connect with a pair of familiar brown ones as the boy moves a lock of bluish-grey hair out of his face. "Hello Tora," he says. "Long time no see."

"Fuck." I mutter.

Who is this mystery boy? How does he know Tora? All this and more will be answered in the next chapter! The first person to guess who the mystery boy is (If they can guess) I'll write them a one-shot of their favorite Naruto pairing, I'll PM the winner (If anyone even tries to guess... Here's a hint he appears in the begining of Naruto Shippuden in the episodes after they return from finding Sasuke) I hope you guys liked this new chapter and participate in my little contest. Enjoy!

~C.S.


	7. Chapter 6

"Sora," I growl as I stare at the boy in front of me. Painful memories start to resurface, but I push them back.

"You two know each other?" Granny Tsunade asks looking between me and the boy.

"Yes," I say bitterly. "We used to go to school together."

"Good you can show him around then," Granny says.

"Sorry, but I can't."

"Why not?" She asks.

"Well I don't really know my way around the school and I wouldn't help him if he was on the ground dying in front of me." I say. "Oh and chances are he won't live long after Naruto and Itachi see him."

"And why won't he live long after they see him?" Kakashi asks with his eyebrow raised.

"They'll kill him for what he did," I say dismissively. "That is, if I don't kill him first."

"What did he do to get on your bad side?" Kakashi asks.

"I'll explain later, after I strangle Sora," I say and lunge at him, but Kakashi grabs my collar and stops me.

Sora's eyes widen and he takes a step back with his hands up defensively. "Look Tora," he begins. "Let me explain myself."

"Fuck you," I say and elbow Kakashi in the stomach so he lets me go. I walk out of the room making sure to slam my shoulder into Sora on the way out. How dare he show his face to me! He's lucky Kakashi was there otherwise he would be dead right now.

I feel tears threaten to fall from my eyes and I run to the stairs to go to the roof. Once I get up there I fall to the ground as the memory of that night takes over.

_ "__Hey babe," Sora says wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me into a kiss. The music's blaring around us and I can taste the alcohol on his lips._

_ "__Hey," I smile when we break apart._

_ "__How you liking the party?" He asks, his speech slightly slurred._

_ "__It's fine," I say. "You know I'm not really a party person."_

_ "__Well then I'll just have to entertain you." He smirks and kisses me again, but I push him back._

_ "__How much have you drank?" I ask trying not to gag as I realize just how much he smells like alcohol._

_ "__Just a few beers," he answers trying to kiss me again. _

_"__Hey Sora!" One of his buddies calls. "I need to talk to you."_

_ "__I'll be right there!" He shouts back and walks away from me. I look around and realize just how uncomfortable I am here. Everywhere I look there are girls in skimpy outfits grinding against guys to the beat of the music. I walk upstairs and out onto an empty balcony to get some fresh air. Parties really aren't my thing._

_ "__So have you done her yet?" A voice asks and I look down to see Sora and his friend below me._

_ "__No, not yet." Sora answers._

_ "__You do realize that you only have one week left until the bet's over?" His friend asks._

_ "__I know," Sora says. "It's just so hard. I thought that if I brought her to the party tonight she'd get drunk and I could get her to come over my house after to avoid her parents. Then I was going to do her and dump her tomorrow, but she's such a goody-goody and won't drink!"_

_ "__Somehow I doubt that Tora Namikaze doesn't drink, I mean no one can be that crazy without alcohol!" His friend laughs and Sora joins in. "Just remember that if it doesn't happen in a week you owe me a hundred bucks."_

_I can't listen to any more as tears begin to slip down my face. That asshole! He's only dating me because of a bet. Kami how stupid can I be? How could I have thought that one of the most popular guys in school would actually like me? I turn away from the balcony and run down the stairs to go home._

_ "__Hey Tora!" His voice calls behind me, but I just ignore it and keep pushing my way through the crowd. I feel someone grab my hand and spin around._

_ "__What the fuck do you want?" I scream._

_ "__Tora, what's wrong?" He asks, his eyes filled with fake concern._

_ "__Don't touch me!" I shout trying to pull my hand from his grasp._

_ "__Tora, what happened? Who made you cry?"_

_ "__Don't act as if you don't know!" I screech unaware of all the attention I was attracting. "You're such an asshole! This was all just a fucking game to you!"_

_ "__You aren't making any sense," he says trying to calm me down._

_ "__I heard you! This was all a bet of who could fuck me first!" I yell. "I should have known as soon as you and all your friends took an interest in me, but I was too fucking stupid!"_

_ "__Tora, let me explain," he starts, but I cut him off with a slap to the face._

_ "__I never want to see you again!" I shout and storm out of the house to my bike._

That was a few months ago when I attended my old school. The party was on a Friday night, but when I got to school on Monday I found out that Sora had started homeschooling. The rumor was that he was too scared to face me and my dear brother along with the rest of the school's guy's basketball team. So we settled for kicking the asses of his friends that were part of the bet too. After that I felt better and Sora faded from my memory. Until now and it's not just a coincidence, everyone at our old school knows I go here now. He must have heard from one of his friends that it was "safe" to come back to school, they must have told him I go here.

I hear the warning bell ring and stand up, wiping my eyes. If I'm not there when Naruto sees Sora, he's going to spend the rest of his life in prison for murder. I let out a sigh and walk down the stairs to the crowded hallways below. Why does my life have to be so complicated? I make it back to Kakashi's room just as Naruto's about to enter.

"Naruto!" I shout getting his attention.

"Oh, hey Tora. How was your friend's house last night?" He asks before noticing my puffy, red eyes. "What happened? Who made you cry?"

"Look Naruto." I begin. "We've got a problem. Sora's here."

"Sora." He growled. "I'm going to kill that bastard! Where is he?"

"In Kakashi's room, but I'm asking you not to touch him." I answer and he gives me a confused look.

"Why don't you want me to touch him?" He grounds out between clenched teeth. "He fucking played you! He deserves anything that comes to him."

"I know," I say trying to calm Naruto down. "But it's not worth it. I'd rather him walk around in one piece than him being dead and you in jail!"

"But Tora!" He exclaims.

"Please Naruto," I beg. "I need you beside me while he's here and not locked up."

"Fine," he sighs angrily. "But if he does anything to you, I'm kicking his ass."

"Thanks Naruto," I smile at him. "It won't be so bad; all I have to do is avoid him at all costs."

"And hope like hell he does the same," Naruto adds as the final bell rings.

"Come on," I say pulling him through the door to Kakashi's room and everyone stares at us.

"You're late," Kakashi says from beside Sora.

"Would you rather have us late or have to clean up his blood from all over your room?" I ask pointing at Sora who takes a step away from us when he sees Naruto's death glare.

"Whatever," Kakashi sighs. "Just take your seats and I expect an explanation from you later when you and your brother join me after school for detention."

"Seriously Kakashi?" I whine.

"Yes seriously, now take your seats!"

"Come on Kakashi!" Naruto whines. "You know that even though Pervy-Sage is in the hospital he still wants me at the dojo right after school so that Dad can train me!"

"Then you can come tomorrow morning and hour before school starts." Naruto opens his mouth to protest but Kakashi cuts him off. "Don't even think about arguing. If you do, I'll call your mother."

"You wouldn't," Naruto says going white.

"Trust me," I mutter. "He would. He's done it to me multiple times."

Naruto doesn't say anything as he stiffly makes his way his seat, terrified of Kakashi calling Kushina. Kakashi turns to me and raises an eyebrow. I cross my arms stubbornly and tilt my head to the side. "Sit down now or I'm going make training hell later and uncancel our all night training."

"I hate you," I mumble as I slowly make my way to my seat next to Hinata and glare up at Kakashi and Sora.

"Now class," Kakashi starts. "We have another new student today, this is Sora. I hope you'll all treat him nicely." He looks at Naruto and I as he says this. His entire attitudes going to change once he finds out what Sora did to make us this pissed.

"Thank you Kakashi-sensei," Sora says politely.

"You can take a seat in the front next to Sasuke," Kakashi says and points to an open desk in front of Sakura. "Now class turn to page 251 and begin reading chapter six. I expect you all to take your own notes."

The class goes by in a blur as I doodle aimlessly on my paper and day dream about strangling Sora. When the bell rings I get up and make my way to the door only to be stopped by Hinata. "You are so explaining why you hate the new kid so much when lunch comes." She whispers and then heads off to her next class. I stare at her retreating form for a second before running after her in order to get to physics.

"What's got you in such a bad mood?" Itachi asks as I take my seat next to him.

"Did you hear about the new kid?" I ask him.

"Yeah."

"It's Sora," I say.

"The bastard who played you?" Itachi asks and I nod. "Don't worry I'll take care of him for you."

"No!" I say quickly. "I don't need you getting in trouble for me. I can handle myself; I just need you for support."

"Normally I'd argue with you," Itachi says. "But since you're so worried about me getting in trouble I'll stay out of it. Just let me know if you need help kicking his ass."

"Thanks," I smile. "But I'm just going to avoid him."

"Alright maggots!" Anko-sensei shouts slamming a textbook on her desk. "Today we're going to do silent work. I want you to read chapter 10 and answer the questions at the end of it. If you don't finish it's homework!" Great more bookwork. I open my book to the right page and begin reading.

* * *

"Spill it," Hinata says as we take our seats at our lunch table. Everyone's eyes land on me questioningly.

"Spill what?" Temari asks.

"The reason why she hates the new kid," Hinata answers.

"There's a new kid?" Neji asks.

"Yeah his name is Sora; now tell us why you hate him!" Hinata exclaims.

"Fine. Sora and I used to go to school together. He was part of the popular group and I was known as the crazy chick. One day all of the popular guys started taking an interest in me. I was stupid and naïve and felt flattered by it. When Sora asked me out on a date I said yes and we had a good time. After that we started dating." I feel tears sting my eyes as I get to the part I want to forget. "A few months into our relationship we were at a party and I went out on a balcony to get some fresh air. Sora and one of his friends were standing underneath it and that's when I found out the only reason he went out with me was because of a bet."

"What kind of bet?" Kankuro asks.

"Whoever can have sex with me first gets one hundred dollars," I answer while blinking so that the tears disappear.

"That's terrible!" Ino says. "What a jerk!"

"Hey Tora," Naruto says walking over to our table. "Mind if I sit with you? Sora's at my old table and if I sit there I'll do something I'll regret."

"Sure," I say as an evil plan forms in my mind. "You can have my seat next to Hinata and I'll go sit next to Temari."

"W-What?" Naruto stutters, face turning red.

"A-Are you s-sure. I can g-go sit by T-Temari," Hinata says also turning red.

"It's fine," I smirk deviously. "Besides I have to talk to her about something that happened this morning." I stand up and gesture for Naruto to sit down next to Hinata. Both they're faces are red as tomatoes as Naruto sits down. I hope he can get up the nerve to ask her to the dance. I walk around to the other side of the round table and take the vacant seat next to Temari, which previously belonged to Shikamaru.

"They like each other, don't they?" She whispers to me.

"Yup," I smirk. "But Naruto's too stubborn to ask her out and Hinata's too shy. Wanna help me get them together?"

"Yes," she grins. "But on another note what did you want to tell me about?"

"Um, well… Before you and Kankuro woke up this morning-"

"You mean before you pushed me off the couch to wake me up." She says pointedly.

"Yeah, sorry about that." I mutter. "But before that, when I woke up I was cuddling with Gaara." My face turns beat red and I use my hair to block it from the view of everyone else at the table. Luckily they're too busy getting acquainted with Naruto.

"Really?" She squeals and everyone looks at her.

"Sorry," I say an embarrassed blush covering my cheeks. "Ignore us." They all just shrug and go back to talking to Naruto.

"You have no idea how big of a deal that is," Temari says. "Gaara has insomnia and never sleeps. Normally he just wanders around or sits on the roof at night. That means that he stayed there all night just to cuddle with you!"

"That's not all," I mumble. "He called me beautiful."

"Seriously!" Her eyes go wide as plates. "So that means your attraction is mutual! You two have to get together."

"One problem," I say sadly and point over at Gaara who's currently making out with Matsuri.

"Oh yeah," she murmurs. "The monster."

"It doesn't matter if he likes me. He obviously likes her more," I say.

"Damn it." She says.

"It's okay," I say with a sad smile. "I'm used guys ignoring me for popular girls."

"No," Temari says, a determined look in her eyes. "I'm going to get you two together, no matter what!"

"Uchiha alert," Tenten whispers and we all turn to look at Sasuke, who is making his way towards our table.

"What do you want?" I ask raising an eyebrow.

"Here," he holds something out to me and I stare at it questioningly. "It's a card, from my parents."

"Why?" I ask taking it from him.

"It's a sympathy card," he explains in a bored tone. "They got it for your family once Itachi told them that your Godfather was in the hospital."

"Oh," I mutter. "Well, tell them I said thank you."

"Whatever," he says turning and going back to his table.

"That was awkward," I mumble looking down at the white envelope with the words _Namikaze Family_ written across it in swirling script. I place it in the front pocket of my bag with a sigh.

"Why would Itachi tell his parents about your Godfather being in the hospital?" Ino asks curiously.

"I was at their house yesterday when my dad called me and told me," I explain. "I rushed out of the house without an explanation. Itachi must have been grilled for answers."

"You were at their house!" Tenten exclaimed.

"Yeah."

"You have to tell us what happened!" Hinata says excitedly. I let out another sigh as I launch into the story of my adventures in the Uchiha household.

* * *

"He really did that to you?" Kakashi asks looking up from his desk.

"Yeah," I sigh. After school I went straight to Kakashi's room for detention where he immediately made me explain who Sora was and what he did to piss me off so much.

"No wonder you wanted to kill him," he mutters. "Well, since you had a good reason for being late to class why don't we head over to the training grounds and start training now?"

"Will I get out earlier?" I ask hopefully.

"Sure why not?"

"Awesome!" I smile as we grab our stuff and make our way outside.

"Do you mind giving me a ride?" Kakashi asks. "Tsunade drove me this morning from the hospital."

"Sure," I say tossing him my spare helmet and pulling on my own. When we get to the dojo we head to the training facility and change quickly.

"We're going to do something a bit different today," Kakashi says as I stretch out my arms. "I want to train you in a new jutsu."

"Really?" I ask in excitement.

"Yeah, I want to modify your Chidori," he says. "I want you to mix your lightning chakra with your wind chakra."

"How am I going to do that?" I ask.

"You know how to do a change in chakra form and a change in chakra nature with your Chidori. So I want you to add another change in chakra nature, but I want you to change it to wind instead of lightning."

"So let me get this straight." I say holding a hand up. "You want me to create a jutsu that's the Chidori with wind tendrils swirling around the lightning?"

"Pretty much."

"Okay," I smile. "Let's do this!"

After hours of trying and failing to mix the two chakra natures together I slump to the ground exhausted. "Don't worry Tora," Kakashi says. "You'll get it eventually. All you have to do is find a balance between the two chakra natures."

"Yeah," I say feeling completely drained. "Hey Kakashi?" "Hm?"

"I think I used too much chakra," I mutter as my eyelids grow heavy and a yawn escapes my lips.

"Go ahead and sleep," he says, his voice sounding far away. "Minato can take you home."

"M'kay," I mumble and succumb to the blissful darkness of sleep.

* * *

Sorry this is so short, but it's more of a filler/explanation of what Sora did to Tora (Ha their names rhyme XD, sorry I'm a strange person...) School starts this Thursday and I have two study halls, so hopefully I'll be able to get some writing in. Just a warning for all during the month of November I will be MIA due to National Novel Writing Month. All of my focus will be on completing a 50,000 word novel in a month so I will not have time to write. But that's a long time away and I will try to update as often as possible before them. The winner of my contest was GrimmyRayne so check out my Fem. Naruto and Gaara one-shot called The Worstbest day (I tried putting a / between worst and best, but fanfiction took it out, so that's why it looks really stupid... sorry)

Enjoy,

~C.S.


	8. Chapter 7

"Tora," a gentle voice says as a hand prods my shoulder. "Tora, it's time to get up."

I mumble something incoherently and turn my back to the voice while snuggling into my blankets.

"Honey you need to get up," the voice urges.

"Five more minutes," I mutter sleepily.

"You have to get up and get ready for your mission," the voice says.

"The mission's not til tomorrow."

"No, honey, today's Saturday," the voice sighs. "You exhausted so much of your chakra that you slept through Friday and most of today too."

"I what!" I shout bolting up in bed. "Why didn't anyone get me up?"

"We tried," Kushina says. "But you were dead to the world. Kakashi called and said he'll be here in fifteen minutes to pick you up for the mission."

"I have to get ready!" I exclaim and run to the bathroom to take a quick shower.

"You ready?" Kakashi asks placing his wooden wolf mask over his face.

"Yup," I answer putting on my tiger style mask. We step out of his little black Honda into the chilly spring air. I shiver a bit in my sleeveless black top, short black shorts, and grey chest protector, in convenient tank top form. I run a fingerless gloved hand over my bare arms, stopping to trace the swirling black ink on my upper left arm. It's in the shape of a leaf and signifies that I am an Anbu of the Leaf.

Kakashi and I make our way to the front door of the cream colored mansion. Kakashi rings the door and a boy dressed in a tux answers. He's maybe a few years older than me and what I like to call, a Sex God. Don't judge me; he really is hot with his stylishly messy brown hair, chiseled facial features and emerald green eyes. I bet he has a six-pack.

"Who are you?" He asks.

"We're the guards the ambassador, Monsieur Morceu, hired." Kakashi answers in a polite tone.

"What's with the weird costumes," he asks rudely. Why must the hot ones always be jerks?  
I open my mouth to say some rude remark, but Kakashi elbows me hard in the stomach before I can get anything out. "Ouch," I grumble rubbing the spot. "Jerk."

"Kane," a woman's voice calls from inside the house. "Who's at the door?"

"They say they're the ambassador's guards," the guy, Kane, calls back.

"Did you let them inside?" She asks.

"Yes, mother." He sighs dramatically. "Come on in." He steps back from the door and we enter into a large foyer with a crystal chandelier.

"Welcome," a blond woman says, descending a marble staircase. I guess some would say she looks elegant in her tight cream colored dress, but I think she just looks uncomfortable. "Monsieur Morceu is still in his room, you can wait in the drawing room. Kane, honey, would you show them where to go."

"I guess," he sighs and leads us to a room on our left. I stop short when I see a familiar red head sitting on the couch.

"Kane," Gaara greets standing from the brown leather love seat. "Is your sister almost ready?" He looks handsome in his tux, but the only problem is the vest and bowtie color. Purple does not mix with blood red hair.

"Who knows?" Kane shrugs. "You should probably just sit down again. It's going to be a long wait for Matsuri."

"Oh, fuck." I mumble under my breath so no one hears. Why me? Why, Kami, does the ambassador have to be staying at Matsuri's fucking house? I let out an audible groan and they all turn to look at me. "Wolf, can I talk to you?" I ask using his codename.

"What do you want?" He asks loud enough so that only I can hear.

"Why didn't you tell me this was Matsuri's house?" I whisper.

"I didn't know," he answers.

"You're so lucky I can't see your face right now!"

"And why is that?" He asks amusement clear in his voice.

"Because when you lie your left eyebrow twitches slightly," I respond.

"And when you lie the corner of your lip twitches slightly and your point is?"

"I hate you," I grumble.

"Gaara!" A girly voice squeals and I look up to see Matsuri hanging on said boy's arm. Her dress looks like something bought from Sluts R Us. It's a ghastly shade of purple covered in bright green sequence and ends just below her butt. It's also strapless and looks like it's about to fall off her chest from her lack of boobs.

"Who are the fashion challenged people?" She asks pointing at Kakashi and I.

"Please," I mutter under my breath. "If anyone here is fashion challenged, it's you." I hear Kakashi chuckle next to me and Matsuri looks at him weirdly.

"What's so funny?" She asks.

"Your ugl-oof." My sentence is cut off by Kakashi elbowing me again.

"Ah, you are here," slightly accented voice says. A man with jet black hair slicked back and a goatee strides into the room. I recognize him as our client.

"Monsieur Morceu," Kakashi says shaking the French man's hand. "I'm Wolf."

"And I'm his partner, Tiger." I step up next to Kakashi.

"Only two guards," Matsuri snorts. "Good luck staying alive."

"Don't worry Mr. Ambassador," Kakashi assures. "We're two of the best shinobi in the agency."

"It would have just been me coming," I say. "But I'm still on probation from the last mission when I nearly killed the client for being irritating."

"That and we're pretty much inseparable," Kakashi says. "We try to work together whenever possible."

"Somehow I doubt a girl could be a good boy guard." Kane snorts. "You look so weak."

"Oh no," Kakashi mutters as my entire body freezes.

"Weak." I growl and glare at him. "I. Am. Not. Weak!" The muscles in my legs tense, I push off to attack him, but my movement is stopped by Kakashi grabbing my shirt collar. Momentum carries me forward and my hands fly up to my throat where my shirt is cutting off my airflow.

Kakashi releases me and sighs. "How many times do I have to tell you not to kill the client or any idiot that calls you weak?"

"But Wolf," I whine. "I wasn't going to kill him. I was just going to show him I'm not weak through a friendly punch in the face."  
"What in the world could be friendly about a punch in the face?" Kane asks.

"Lots of things," I say brightly.

"Ah, it seems we're all here," an older looking version of Kane says striding in with the blond woman on his arm.

"I hope my children didn't cause you too much trouble," the woman says looking at Kakashi and I.

"None at all," Kakashi says, but I can hear a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Good," the woman smiles. "Shall we go?"

We exit the house in a group, Kakashi and I alert to any danger around us. Waiting in front of the house is a sleek black limo.

"What's our strategy?" I ask Kakashi.

"You ride in the limo with the ambassador," he answers. "And I'll trail you on the rooftops.

I nod and Kakashi takes off. "Where is he going?" The ambassador asks.

"Don't worry," I say. "I'm going to stay with you while Wolf trails us."

He just nods and gets into the vehicle with the others. I climb in after him and take the only open seat, which is right between Kane and Gaara. Damn, I'm really unlucky today. The space is small so my shoulders touch them both on either side as well as my legs. Tingles of warmth spread through my body where my bare shoulders and legs touch them. Thank Kami this mask hides my blush.

"So why do you wear a mask?" Asks Kane. "Are you really ugly?"

"Kane!" His mother gasps.

"It's okay," I reassure her. "We only wear the masks to keep our identities a secret. If our enemies knew who we were in real life we'd be attacked in our daily lives. Besides Wolf wears one because his face is extremely sexy and he'll get attacked by girls if he doesn't."

"What's so bad about that?"

"When you're trying to do a mission, it gets a little irritating being followed around by girls." I explain. "Not to mention they're always teenagers who are too young for him."

"How old is he?" Matsuri asks.

"Mid-twenties," I answer vaguely.

"Are you two a couple?" Matsuri's dad asks.

"Ew, no!" I say making a face, but they can't see it under my mask. "He's like an older brother! Besides I'm still in high school- shit, I wasn't supposed to tell you that!" Kakashi's going to kill me.  
"Which school?" Kane asks leaning closer to me. "How old are you?"

"When did this become a session of 'Interrogate the Shinobi'?" I ask with a nervous laugh.

"She is right," the ambassador says. "I want to know how you and your partner will protect me during the party."

"As your government requested, one of us will stay with you at all times while the other moves about the estate, searching for any signs of trouble." I say suddenly getting serious. "We agreed that I should be the one to stay with you."

"I requested a user of the Sharingan," he says. "Do either of you possess it?"

"Yes, I have it and Wolf has it in one of his eyes." I answer him.

"What's a Sharingan?" Kane asks.

"Seriously?" I ask. "What's with all the questions?"

"I'm just curious," he mutters.

"Fine," I sigh and activate my Sharingan. "If you want to see what it looks like, look at my eyes." I turn to face him and he leans towards me until his face is only centimeters from mine. His bright eyes lock on my red and black ones and I feel a blush creep across my face. I may like Gaara, but I have to admit this guy is cute.

"Whoa," he breathes as I let my eyes return to their normal onyx color. He stares at me a bit longer before clearing his throat and backing away, a slight blush on his face. If I hadn't been trained to notice small things like that I would have never seen it.

I glance to my left and see Gaara staring at the tattoo on my arm. "What are you doing?" I ask.

"I swear I've seen that mark somewhere before." He mutters. My body freezes. Shit, he saw me in a bathing suit and tank top, both of which exposed my tattooed arm. If he traces it back to me… I don't even want to think of what Minato and Kakashi would do to me.

Luckily the car stops at that moment and Kakashi opens the door. "How did it go?" I ask as I step out next to him.

"Nothing suspicious so far." He answers and hands me a communicator. "I'm going to start my sweep of the house, contact me if something happens."

I nod and snap the microphone of the communicator around my neck and place the earpiece in my right ear. He disappears and I follow the ambassador to the house, scratch that, castle. The large stone structure looms in front of us, a shadow in the setting sun.

The ballroom is huge. I recognize the Hyuugas (Hinata's wearing a cute lavender dress that's tight up top and poofs out at the waist), the Inuzukas, the Yamanakas, the Naras, and the Akamichis. All the old shinobi families, minus the Uchihas. Even more reason to make sure not to be recognized.

The night drags on slowly. Most of the older members of the families recognize that I'm an Anbu, but none of them comment on it. The ambassador is talking to the head of some company; I don't really care about what they're saying. My eyes scan the crowd and land on Gaara dancing with Matsuri, while Sakura dances with Kane. A glint of silver catches my eye as it sails through the air straight at the ambassador.

In a flash I knock the ambassador out of the way and block the object with a kunai. I look at the object sticking out of the ground a few feet away. My eyes widen in surprise as I realize it's a kunai.

"Wolf, we've got a problem," I say pressing the mic button on my communicator.

"What is it?" His voice crackles through the earpiece.

"There's been an attack, get to the ballroom," I answer. "And it seems the ambassador isn't the only one who hired shinobi."

"Okay," he says and appears next to me in a puff of smoke. By now everyone in the ballroom is freaking out trying to get out the doors, which seem to have been locked.

"Mr. Ambassador," I say. "We need you to stay where we can see you."

The French man nods, his face white as a sheet and terror clear in his eyes. "Find them," Kakashi orders.

I make a hand sign and scan the surrounding area for strange chakras. "There!" I shout, throwing a kunai at the upper balcony. Three shadows jump away from the area and land on the ground in front of us. I activate my Sharingan and get into a battle stance.

"It seems we've been found out," a familiar snake like voice says. The figures straighten and sure enough Orochimaru is standing in the middle, his golden snake eyes boring into mine. On either side of him are two masked figures. I can tell that the one in the snake mask is Kabuto; it's obvious with his silver hair in a spikey ponytail. The other one wears a hawk mask with spikey midnight hair shaped like a duck-butt. It's obvious to me that it's Sasuke; I can even see his Sharingan through the eye holes in his mask.

"Why am I so fucking unlucky today?" I ask looking up at the ceiling as if I was talking directly to Kami. "I don't remember doing anything to deserve this."

"Tsk, tsk." Orochimaru says. "You really should watch your language little tiger."

"You," I say glaring at him. "Can't tell me what to fucking do."

"I almost forgot how much of a mouth she has on her," Kabuto muses.

"Yes," Orochimaru smiles and looks at Sasuke. "Why don't you shut her up for us?"

"Gladly," I can hear the smirk in Sasuke's voice as he unsheathes his Katana.

"Bring it, Duck-ass," I say holding up my kunai. He runs at me and my Sharingan easily follows the movement. He slashes his sword at my right side, but I block it easily and try to kick him in the stomach. He jumps back to avoid the blow and comes at me again with his sword. This time I grab the blade, gritting my teeth as the sharp metal digs into my palm. Using the sword to hold him in place, I punch him in the stomach releasing the katana so that he goes flying back and lands in a heap in front of Orochimaru.

"Is that all you've got?" I smirk.

"Lord Orochimaru," Kabuto says. "I think it would be better if we go about this in a more strategic way."

"You're right Kabuto," the snake man drawls. "Why don't we just sit back and enjoy the show. Call in our friends."

"Yes, my Lord." Kabuto says and snaps his fingers. The doors fly open and tons of Orochimaru's grotesque experiments fill in, pushing the panicking crowd back and surrounding us. Orochimaru, Kabuto, and Sasuke jump back up onto the balcony to watch.

"Shit," I mutter. "Wolf there's too many for us to take on alone."

"I know," he says frustrated.

"We will fight with you," Hiashi Hyuuga says walking over to us and I notice the other heads of ex-shinobi nodding along with him.

"Thank you, sir." I say.

"Just keep that man safe," he says and nods towards the ambassador.

"Alright people!" I shout. "This is how it's going to work. Those who cannot fight need to move to the middle of the group. While those who can and know the way of the shinobi need to form a circle of protection around them!"

People begin to shift around and the shinobi and experiments enter a stare down. "Tiger, we need to get the ambassador out of here." Kakashi says.

"I know," I mutter. "We need the fighting to start so we can slip out in the confusion and take him to the facility where he'll be safe."

"So let's get it started," Tsume, an Inuzuka, smiles wickedly. "It's been almost fifteen years since I've had a good fight."

"We'll take care of things here," Inoichi, part of the Yamanaka family, says. "You just get the ambassador out of here."  
"Okay," I nod and shake their hands. When I get to Tsume I smile. "If you want a good fight just come to the facility and ask for Tiger, I'll give you one hell of a fight."

"I just might take you up on that offer," she says.

"Ready?" I ask and they nod. "Attack!"

As one the former shinobi and their legacies surge forward. The sound of fighting fills the room as I fight my way through the throng, Kakashi dragging the ambassador right behind me.

"Tiger look out!" Kakashi shouts and I look up to see a mutated fist flying towards me. It's too late to block, so I close my eyes and wait for impact, but it never comes. I open my eyes slowly to see a wall of sand shielding me.

"You okay," a familiar raspy voice asks. Gaara stands next to me, his hand moving and I notice the sand following its movements.

"Y-yes," I stammer, my face heating up. Thank Kami he doesn't know it's me. "Thanks." He nods and disappears into the crowd.

"Tiger, stop daydreaming!" Kakashi yells. "Come on." I give my head a shake and resume fighting my way through the battle. We finally make it to the edge and slip out the door.

"This way," Kakashi says taking the lead. The ambassador is behind him and I'm in the back.

Kakashi leads us through maze of hallways, but we have to stop halfway so the ambassador can catch his breath. The slight whistle of an object flying through the air catches my attention and I quickly block some shuriken with my kunai.

"Did you really think we'd let you get away?" Sasuke sneers as he stands in our path.

"Wolf," I say. "Find another way out. I'll take care of him and catch up to you later."

"Be careful," he says and takes off in the other direction, dragging the ambassador behind him.

"So how's it going Sasuke?" I ask casually.

"How do you know who I am?" He asks coldly.

"Only one person has hair shaped like a duck's ass," I say. "And that's you."

He just growls in response and charges at me. He aims a punch at my head, but I dodge and counter with a kick to his legs. He jumps back and makes a quick series of hand signs. "Fire style: Fireball Jutsu!"

A large flame shoots out of his mouth and I jump back out of range. I make a few hand signs and shout, "Wind Style: Wind Bullet Jutsu!"

Small bullets of wind shoot out of my mouth and Sasuke's forced to dodge. I make a few more hand signs and lightning gathers in my hand. "Chidori!" I yell and charge at him. I'm not actually going to hit him in any vitals; I don't want to kill him.

He pulls out his blade and lightning crackles down it. He blocks my Chidori with it and his other hand comes out of nowhere with a kunai in it. I manage to lean back enough so that it only slices through my mask, causing it to fall to the ground in two pieces. "Tora?" Sasuke asks as his eyes widen. I use his moment of shock to send a hard punch to his gut. He flies into the wall and I hear something crack. Hopefully that sound was the wall and not one of his bones.

I walk over to where he sits on the floor looking directly into my eyes. "How do you have the Sharingan?" He asks. "I thought only Uchiha's had it."

"Surprise, I'm an Uchiha." I say blandly. "Sorry about this." I bring my hand up and hit him on the back of the neck, knocking him out. I sling his body over my shoulder and press the button on my communicator.

"Kakashi," I say.

"Yeah."

"I took out Sasuke, where are you and the ambassador?" I ask.

"Back in the ballroom," he replies. "All the experiments have been taken out, but it seems Orochimaru and Kabuto were able to escape."

"Okay," I say. "I'm on my way."

When I get back to the ballroom everyone's standing in groups talking about what just happened. I enter, and everyone stares at me.

"What happened?" Kakashi asks when he sees me. "Why is your face cut?"

"What are you-" I raise my hand to touch my nose and it comes away red. "Oh, he almost cut me in half, but when I leaned back he was only able to cut off my mask. He must have nicked my face too."

"Tora?" Someone asks and I turn to see all my school friends and the twin bitches (My new nickname for Matsuri and Sakura) staring at me.

"Hey guys," I say with a nervous laugh. "Fancy meeting you here."

"You fought well," Hiashi says as he and a few other adults walk over.

"Well, I have been doing this since I was six," I say. "Not to mention a few of Orochimaru's experiments did work and have helped me out. I mean, it is nice to have a faster than normal rate of healing."

"What's your name kid?" Tsume asks.

"Tora Namikaze," I answer.

"So you're the adopted daughter of Minato and Kushina," Inoichi says.

"Yup," I say popping the "p". "If you'll excuse me though I have to take him home." I point at Sasuke, who is still wearing his mask.

"Don't forget to heal him first," Kakashi says.

"I won't and you need to remember to wipe the minds of all non-shinobi." I say and he nods. "See ya later Kakashi!" I make a sign and transport away.

We appear in front of the Uchiha mansion and I pull out my phone to call Itachi. He picks up on the second ring.

"What do you want?" A groggy voice asks.

"Come to the front door." I say.

"Why?"

"So you can get your unconscious brother."

"I'll be right there," he sighs and hangs up. The door opens a few seconds later and I pass Sasuke to a tired looking Itachi. "What happened?"  
"Well, we were guarding an ambassador from France and were attacked by him and Orochimaru. I knocked him out while we were fighting and thought it would be nice to bring him home." I answer.

"Okay," he says. "I'll make sure he gets healed and gets to bed."

"Thanks," I say. "I should probably get home and tell Minato what happened."

"Bye," he says and closes the door. I must have woken him up from his beauty sleep. I just shrug and transport myself home.

"Why are you home so early?" Minato asks when I appear.

"Orochimaru attacked," I say. "We were able to keep the ambassador safe thanks to the ex-shinobi families that were there."

"Where's Kakashi?"

"Wrapping things up," I answer. "I had to leave to take Sasuke home. He was there with Orochimaru and I knocked him out while we were fighting."

"Do you think I need to head down there?"

"I think Kakashi can handle it. Not to mention the Yamanaka family was there, so they can wipe the minds of anyone who isn't or wasn't a shinobi."

"Good," he sighs. "I was hoping you'd say that."

"I'm going to go clean the blood off my face before mom sees it," I say and head to the stairs. "She'll freak if she sees it." It's a good thing it's already healed.

"That's a good idea," he chuckles.

I grab a pair of pajamas from my room and go to the bathroom. I turn on the shower and strip out of my Anbu clothes. The warm water washes over me, relaxing my muscles. How the hell am I going to explain myself to my friends? They're all part of ex-shinobi families, so their minds aren't going to be wiped. I should have known that even though they stopped working for us, the families still trained their children in the art of the shinobi.

How am I going to explain myself to Sasuke? He saw my Sharingan, and I did tell him I'm an Uchiha. Maybe I hit him hard enough that he'll forget or maybe he'll think it was just a dream. That would be lucky, but I shouldn't expect much, with my luck he'll ask his parents about it. That would make my life a whole lot more complicated than it needs to be.

I shut the water off and step out onto the bathroom rug. I dry my body and throw on my pajamas before brushing my teeth. At least I won't have to see any of them until Monday. I dry my hair and run a brush through it before going back to my room and collapsing on my bed. I'm out the instant my head hits the pillow.

My night is filled with nightmares triggered by seeing Orochimaru again. Every time I close my eyes I go through the memory of one of his experiments before waking up in a cold sweat. Around three in the morning I give up on sleeping and pull out a book. By the time everyone else wakes up I'm finished with the book and I go downstairs to make breakfast.

I decide to make French toast and pull out a few eggs, cinnamon, and nutmeg. I crack the eggs and add the spices before mixing it all together. Minato and Kushina come downstairs just as I take the finished French toast off the pan.

"Smells good," Minato says reaching to grab a slice, but Kushina smacks his hand away.

"Oh no you don't," she scolds. "You have to wait until we get to the elders' house to eat."

"But they never have any good food," he whines.

"You just have to deal with it," I shrug and set my plate on the table. Every Sunday since Minato became Hokage, him and Kushina have had to eat brunch with the elder shinobi. There are only two of them, but they were considered the to be some of the best shinobi of their time.

"We have to get going," Kushina says. "We'll be back by one and Naruto spent the night at a friend's house, so he wont be home for awhile."

"Okay," I say and give them each a hug as they walk out the door. Once they're gone I lock it and sit down to eat. I pour a generous amount of syrup over my food and add a ton of powdered sugar. I'm just about to dig in when there's a knock at the door.

"Coming!" I shout and set my silverware down. I make my way to the door and look through the peephole. Standing on the front porch of the house, looking awkward and out of place, is Sasuke. "Fuck."

I unlock the door and we stare at each other for a few seconds before he says, "We need to talk."

I wonder how Sasuke's gonna act when she tell him she's his twin O_o Even I don't know yet, and I'm the author! Anyways I hope you like this chapter. Thank you so much for all of the continued support. Every time I read a review I get this goofy grin on my face and my day brightens a little. You guys are AWESOME 3 I've acutally been planning this chapter for a while (like since I started the story...) I hope you guys liked it :)

~C.S.


	9. Chapter 8

"Come in," I sigh and step back. Sasuke walks in silently, stopping to take off his shoes and leather jacket. I lead him into the kitchen and he takes a seat at the table. "Hungry?"

"Sure." He says.

"How you feeling?" I ask putting together a plate of French toast for him.

"Fine," he answers. "But you hit hard."

"Yeah," I say with a faint smile. "You can thank Kakashi for that."

I set the plate on the table in front of him and he nods his thanks. We lapse into an awkward silence and eat our food. I wonder how he's going to react when I tell him I'm his sister.

"How do you have the Sharingan?" He asks abruptly.

"I told you," I sigh. "I'm an Uchiha."

"Are you a distant cousin or something?"

"No," I say quietly.

"Then how exactly are you related to me?"

"I-I'm your twin sister," I whisper.

"That's impossible!" He slams his hands on the table and stands up.

"Think about it," I say. "I was given up a birth by a rich family and I have the Sharingan. Not to mention Itachi had a blood test done and it came back positive."

"But… why would Mom and Dad give you up and keep me?" He asks and begins to pace back and forth across the room.

"Because they only wanted a son," I say sadly. "And when I was born a few minutes before and as a girl, they were disappointed. They didn't want part of their company run by a girl; they thought a girl wouldn't be good enough."

"So Itachi knows?"

"He's the one who figured it out. He found my birth certificate when he was younger and when he asked your parents about it they told him to forget he ever saw it." I answer. "When he got older he finally realized that it meant that I either died young or was given up. He used money to bribe the hospital workers to let him search through their archives. Once he found out that I was sent to foster care he tracked down my social worker and got the address of the Namikaze's then showed up on our doorstep two years ago. Minato and Kushina knew I was an Uchiha when I got my Sharingan, but they never thought that I could be the child their ex-friends gave up."

"That's why you and Itachi are so close," he mutters.

"Yeah," I whisper as my eyes begin to water. I hate telling that story, it always makes me cry. I try to blink back the tears, but it only makes it worse as a single tear slides down my face.

Sasuke notices this and kneels down in front of me. I look away from him, the only thing I hate more than crying is crying in front of people. He forces my chin up with his hand and our identical onyx eyes lock. "Don't cry," he whispers and gently wipes the tear from my cheek. He wraps his arms around me as a sob escapes my throat. His hand rubs soothing circles on my back and I bury my face in his shoulder. "I'm sorry I was such a jerk to you."

"I-it's o-okay," I choke out.

"No it's not," he whispers into my hair. "I'm going to make it up to you. Besides I have sixteen years of not being your brother to make up for."

"R-really?" I sniff and pull away to look at him.

"Yes," he smiles. "And I'm going to start by spending the day with you."

"Won't your girlfriend get the wrong idea?"

"I really don't care," he says. "The only reason I'm dating her is because Dad told me to. I think our parents are arranging for us to marry as a way of merging the companies."

"I feel so bad for you," I say with a small laugh as I wipe my eyes. "I couldn't imagine having to spend the rest of my life with that hag."

"Believe me," he laughs. "There's no way I'm going to marry her. I was actually planning on breaking up with her after the dance."

"Smart move. So what are we going to do today?"

"Well we could go to the movies and then walk around the mall," he suggests.

"Okay," I smile. "Let's go!"

"Um, Tora." He says.

"Hm?"

"You should probably change out of your pajamas."

"Oh yeah," I laugh rubbing the back of my head in embarrassment and run up to my room to change.

* * *

"This is so good," I moan as I take another bite of a gooey cinnamon roll.

"I told you it was," Sasuke says taking a sip of his coffee.

"Yeah, but not as good as the ones at Kushina's café," I say through a mouthful of pastry. We're currently sitting a café inside of the Elite Mall. The movie was awesome; it was some action movie with tons of explosions and lots of blood. Sasuke was happy that he finally had someone to go see things like that with because Sakura only wanted to see crappy chick flicks.

"So where to after this?" I ask as I lick my fingers of the gooey goodness.

"I don't know," he shrugs. "We could go to the arcade they have here. They have a huge laser tag arena."

"I love laser tag!" I say and bounce up and down happily. "I haven't gone in a while because I've been so busy."

"Me too," he says.

"I just hope you're prepared to be crushed," I smirk.

"As if," he says arrogantly. "I could beat you blindfolded."

"You wanna be-"

My sentence is cut off by a girly, high-pitched squeal of, "Sasuke!" In an instant my brother is attacked by a pink haired monster. "Where were you? We went to your house but you weren't there!"

"Sakura," he sighs pushing her off. "I was busy."

"Doing what?" She asks.

"Tora, what are you doing here?" A startled voice asks. "And with Sasuke!" I look to my left and see Gaara and Matsuri. Gaara has a look of shock and… is that jealously? While Matsuri's glaring daggers at me.

"We're hanging out," I say as if it were obvious.

"But I thought you two didn't like each other!" Sakura says.

"Turns out we have more in common than we thought." Sasuke shrugs. "Now if you'll excuse us, I have to go crush Tora at laser tag now."

"Did you hit your head?" I scoff. "I'm going to crush you."

"Loser has to pay for dinner?" He offers.

"Oh it's so on," I grin and we walk out of the café leaving behind three very confused people. We walk the length of the mall and enter the arcade. All around kids play games on machines with flashing lights. We walk up to the desk and Sasuke buys us unlimited laser tag passes.

We play for three hours straight while keeping track of who won each game. In the end I beat Sasuke by one game. "You got lucky in that last game," he sulks. "That group of little kids ganged up on me for some reason."

"Oh stop whining," I smirk. "I would have won anyways."

"Whatever," he mumbles. "So where are we going to dinner?"

"Um, there's a new restaurant that opened up down the street from my house. I think it's Italian," I suggest.

"Sounds good to me." He says and we walk into the parking lot to his Charger. I get in the passenger seat and as soon as he starts the car I mess with his radio. "Don't even bother with it, there's never anything on."

"Does it have Bluetooth?" I ask and he nods. "Awesome." I pull out my phone and connect it to the radio and hit play. Getting Away With Murder by Papa Roach blares through the speakers. Sasuke shocks me by singing along, he has perfect pitch too. I smile a little bit and join in on singing. It takes about twenty minutes to get to the restaurant and we sang to each song the whole way there.

"You have a pretty good voice," I compliment as we get out of his car.

"You too," he says and we enter the restaurant. The hostess sit us down at a table next a window and walks away, but not before sending a flirty wink Sasuke's way. We sit across from each other and the waitress comes over.

"Hello," she says flashing Sasuke a flirty smile. "I'm Yuki and I'll be your server this evening. Can I get you something to drink?"

"I'll have water," Sasuke answers.

"Same," I say and the girl seems shocked that I was there. This happens to me all the time when I go out to eat with Naruto, waitresses spend the whole time flirting with him, and sometimes they never notice me. Other times it's waiters hitting on me while Naruto gets ignored. I mean, he gets ignored until he threatens the poor guy for flirting with me.

"I'll get those right away," she says and walks away.

"So there's something I wanted to ask you," Sasuke says. "What exactly did that Sora guy do to you?"

"Long story short," I sigh. "He only dated me because of a bet between him and his friends."

"What was the bet?"

"Whoever fucked me first got a hundred bucks," I say bitterly.

"What an asshole," Sasuke mutters.

"It doesn't matter," I say. "I'm over it, though I'll still kick his ass if he tries to come near me again."

"Let me know if you need help," he smiles.

"I will," I say returning his smile.

"So, we really don't know much about each other," he states.

"We'll just have to change that," I say. "We can ask each other questions and no matter what the other has to answer truthfully."

"Okay," he smirks. "What's your favorite color?"

"Black," I answer. "Your favorite food?"

"Tomatoes. Favorite band?"

"That's a hard one," I muse. "But right now I'm stuck between Papa Roach and Breaking Benjamin. What was your childhood like?"

"Easy, I got everything I wanted no matter what it was." He says. "What was yours like?"

"It sucked until I was six. I lived in foster care until I was four, then I was held captive and experimented on until I was six. After that I was saved and adopted by Minato and life got better." I sigh. "Um, what's the most embarrassing thing you've ever experienced?"

"Sorry to interrupt," our waitress says. "Here's your water, what can I get you to eat?"

"I'll have the chicken parmesan," Sasuke says.

"And I'll have the flat bread peperoni pizza," I say and hand her my menu. "I'll go put that in for you." She walks away.

"So back to my question," I smirk.

"Two years ago we went on vacation to a beach somewhere. We were walking down the boardwalk when I tripped over a stray extension cord and fell onto some lady. I landed on top of her, but because of how we fell, my face ended up in her boobs. She freaked out on me and started screaming the word pervert over and over again."

"That," I laugh. "Is probably the best story I've ever heard."

"Shut up," he grumbles. "Anyways, it's my turn to make you embarrassed. I want to know who you have a crush on."

My laughter stops immediately and my face turns red. "I hate you," I mumble.

"Don't forget you have to answer honestly," he reminds me.

"Yeah, yeah I know." I mutter. "I… have a crush on… G-Gaara."

"Really?" He asks with wide eyes.

I just nod and cover my burning face with my hair. "Too bad he's with Matsuri." I whisper sadly.

"You know," Sasuke muses. "I could actually see you two together. I think you two would look good together. From what I know about Gaara I think your personalities would complement each other."

"You sound like a less enthusiastic version of Temari," I say. Our waitress comes over with our food and we eat in silence. "I wonder how she's going to react when I tell her about today. She already knows that I'm your sister."

"How many people actually know about this?" He asks.

"Temari, my friend Suzume, the Namikaze's, Kakashi, my godfather Jirya, Tsunade, and the Akatsuki." I answer. "But they aren't going to tell anyone."

"Good," he says. "I don't think Mom and Dad would like it if the world found out that they gave up their daughter at birth simply because they didn't want a girl."

"Yeah," I laugh. "Though it would make one hell of a news story."

"Yeah it would," he laughs. "So what should we do after this? My curfew isn't until ten."

"We could go back to my house and watch a movie," I say.

"Will your parents mind?"

"Nope and once I tell them that you found out I'm your sister and we're just hanging out, they'll probably love you."

"Okay," he smiles and pays the check. We drive down the street to my house and I notice that everyone's home.

"I'm home!" I shout as we enter the house.

"I'm in the kitchen!" Kushina shouts back. We walk through the house to the kitchen where Kushina is baking some cookies, he back to us.

"Hi Mom," I say plucking a cookie off the cooling rack on the table.

"Where were you?" She asks, not turning around.

"Hanging at the mall," I answer casually.

"With who?" She turns to look at me and her eyes widen when she sees Sasuke beside me. "Care to explain why you're with Itachi's brother?"

"Well you see," I say nervously. "During the mission yesterday I was fighting him and he cut my mask off. He saw my Sharingan and came over this morning to ask about it. Then I told him we're twins and we've been spending the day together."

"Oh," she blinks. A smile slowly forms on her face.

"We're going to watch a movie in my room." I say and grab a plate full of cookies then dragging Sasuke to my room before she could say or do anything embarrassing. When she first found out Itachi was my brother she got really excited and gave him a bone crushing hug, and then she shouted "Welcome to the family" right in his ear.

"Nice room," Sasuke snickers as he takes in the pink walls covered in posters, pink bed, and pink dressers.

"Shut up," I grumble and smack his arm. "I was six when I got all this and just found no point in changing it."

"I think it's cute," he smirks.

"Whatever, what movie do you want to watch?"

"What do you have?"

"All the movies are over there," I say pointing at my overflowing bookcase. Sasuke walks over to it and examines the movies I have stored on the top shelf.

"Why don't we do a Harry Potter marathon?" He asks. "We could watch one or two tonight and watch the rest next weekend."

"Sounds good to me," I say grabbing the first movie and putting it in the DVD player. Sasuke makes himself comfortable on half my queen sized bed and I lay down next to him. I hit the play button on the remote and set the cookies in between us so we can eat them while watching the movie.

Four hours and a million cookies later Sasuke has to leave. I walk him to the door and we step outside so that my nosey family can't spy on us. "So, I'll see you in school tomorrow." I smile and give him a hug.

"Yeah," he smiles and places a kiss on my forehead.

"It's going to be so much fun trying to come up with an explanation for why we don't hate each other anymore." I say sarcastically.

"We can always skip school tomorrow," he says.

"I can't," I sigh. "I already missed Friday."

"Oh yeah," he says.

"Hey Sasuke," I say quietly. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," he smiles. "You can ask me anything."

"Why are you with Orochimaru?" I ask nervously. "They said it's because you want to kill Itachi so you can have all of your family's company."

"What?" He asks in shock. "I would never do that! The only reason I joined him was because he threatened to kill my parents if I didn't."

"Of course he did," I say bitterly. "That bastard's wanted his hands on the Sharingan for so long; he'd do anything to get it."

"How do you know that?"

"Because those two years I was held captive, it was by him. He used me for his experiments and was going to keep me locked up until he figured out a way to get my Sharingan." I explain. "Luckily Minato, Kakashi, and Jirya saved me before he figured it out."

"That's horrible," he says. "If you ever want any information on Orochimaru and his plans I'll tell you anything you want to know."

"Thanks Sasuke," I smile.

"Anything for my sister," he looks down at me with a soft smile and hugs me again. "I really need to go, if I break curfew I'll be grounded for a month."

"Okay, bye Sasuke."

"Bye," he says handing me a piece of paper then gets into his car. I watch as his taillights disappear around a corner and go back inside. I open the paper up and see his phone number written down along with a message. _I'll get your number from Itachi later._

I smile and go upstairs, ignoring the millions of questions being asked by my family. I take a quick shower before going to sleep with a small smile on my face.

Hi guys! So I think this chapter is actually kind of cute... It's strange to think I actually wrote something cute. Thank you so much for the reviews, it really makes me work faster. Acutally I was going to work on the next chapter of my other story, but I got so many people telling me to update this one (On here and another website) and decide that I would work on this chapter first. I know it's kind of short, but I feel lazy today. Please review to let me know if you liked Sasuke's reaction or if you wanted him to blow up on Tora and not believe her. Here's some questions to get you thinking about the next chapter. How are her and Sasuke going to explain to their friends why they don't hate each other anymore? How will her friends react to her telling them she's a shinobi? Will Tsume take Tora up on her offer to fight? And when will Gaara dump Matsuri and start going out with Tora?! (I only know the answer to that one... but I'm not going to tell you because I want you to wait and see). As always I hope you enjoyed!

~C.S.


	10. Chapter 9

I walk down the hall, humming along to my iPod. Kankuro and Kiba suddenly appear on either side of me and grab my arms, then lift me up off the ground. "Hey what are you-" My voice is cut off by Kiba's hand on my mouth. They drag me through the school to an empty classroom and force me into a desk, both of them keeping a hand on each of my shoulders. Kiba takes his hand off my mouth and I immediately start shouting. "What the fuck do you think you're doing!"

"Just calm down Tora," Ino says as all of my "friends" step out of the shadows.

"We just want to ask you a few questions." Hinata says gently.

"You didn't have to kidnap me," I grumble. "All you had to do was ask."

"We didn't think you would answer them willingly," Temari admits.

"We just want to know what you were doing at that party and who the man with you was." Neji says.

"I can't tell you that," I sigh.

"Well you're not leaving until you tell us," Kankuro smirks.

"Come on," I whine. "Kakashi'll kill me if I'm late."

"Too bad," Tenten shrugs.

"Well, I guess you guys are all part of ex-shinobi families," I mumble.

"Ex-what?" Lee asks.

"Shinobi," Gaara says. "It's another name for ninjas."

"How do you know that?" I ask in surprise. "As far as I know the Sabaku's aren't ex-shinobi."

"We were part of the Suna sector," Temari explains. "We moved here to live with our Uncle two years ago in order to get away from our Dad. He's the Kazekage of Suna."

"We just never got around to joining the Konoha sector," Kankuro says. "And we don't know who the Hokage is."

"That explains how Gaara can control sand," I say. "If you guys want to join, my Dad's the Hokage."

"Can someone please explain what you're talking about?" Kiba asks.

"Not here," I say. "It's classified information and I don't want anyone to listen in. If you really want to know come to the Konoha Dojo after school. I'll explain everything there."

"Fine," Hinata sighs and the boys release me.

"One more question," Gaara says just before I make it to the door. "Why were you and Sasuke Uchiha hanging out together yesterday?"

Everyone stares at me with looks of shock. "Um… Bye!" I shout and bolt out of the room before they could force an answer out of me. I sprint down the hall and burst into Kakashi's room right before the bell rings.

"Any particular reason why you're late?" He asks.

"I'm not late," I shrug and go to my seat. "I was in here before the bell rang."

"Whatever," he sighs as Hinata and Kiba walk in. "Why are you two late?"

"Gai-sensei stopped us in the hall to talk," Kiba says. "He just wouldn't stop talking!"

"Liar," I mumble.

"Understandable," Kakashi says. "Take your seats."

"Yes Kakashi –sensei." They say and sit down, both of them giving me strange looks. I just ignore them and examine my black painted nails.

"Okay class, turn to page 394," Kakashi says and I giggle. "Something funny Tora?"

"Nothing at all," I smirk.

"Just open your book," he sighs.

"Whatever you say Professor Snape." I giggle.

"Really Tora?"

"You should have seen it coming," I say. "You know I'm obsessed with Harry Potter."  
"What's Harry Potter?" Someone asks causing me to gasp dramatically.

"Only the greatest book/movie series ever created!" I shout.

"Can we get back on task?" Kakashi asks.

"I don't know," I smile mischievously. "Can we?"

"Don't make me send you to Tsunade's office," he threatens.

"Meh, whatever." I shrug.

"Fine," he growls. "I'll call your mother."

"Dear Kami no!" I shout. "I'll be killed or worse, grounded!"

"She needs to sort out her priorities," Naruto says and we look at each other for a second before bursting out in laughter.

"That's it!" Kakashi shouts. "If you don't stop this right now, not only will I call your mother, I will make sure training is hell for both of you tonight!"

Our laughter stops immediately. "Sorry Kakashi," we say simultaneously and shut up.

When Kakashi says he'll make training hell, he means it. It's normally a 20K run, followed by an intense work out session, then finished off with a half hour long ice bath. And that's just the warm up! He works us to the point that we won't be able to move the next day.

"Now that that's over I want you to read all of the chapter and answer the questions at the end." A collective groan goes through the class and we start on our reading.

On long history class, physics test, pre-calc review, and painting later I'm sitting in an awkward silence in the cafeteria. "What did Gaara mean by you hanging out with Sasuke yesterday?"

"Um…" I start before the chiming of my phone cuts me off.

Sasuke: Come sit with me.

Me: No way! I cant' stand your girlfriend or Matsuri or Sora… pretty much everyone at your table minus you and Gaara.

Sasuke: If you don't come over here I'm going to kidnap you.

Me: You wouldn't.

Sasuke: Watch me.

I look up from my phone to see Sasuke stand up, his eyes lock with mine and he smirks. I let out a groan and bang my head on the table. "You really should believe me," he whispers in my ear.

"I hate you." I grumble as he picks me up and throws me over his shoulder. "I liked it better when we hated each other."

"Love you too," he chuckles and walks away from my table. I watch as the stunned faces of my friends get smaller and he plops me down in a seat then claims the one next to me.

"What's she doing here," Sakura sneers. I glare at her, but she just brushes it off.

"She's here with me," Sasuke says and I notice Gaara glaring at him. I wonder why…

"Is this some kind of joke?" Matsuri asks. "Did you lose a bet or something Sasuke?"

My glare gets fiercer at the word bet. I clench my teeth and look at Sora out of the corner of my eye. He has the red head with glasses on his lap and is staring at me.

Sasuke notices my slight change in demeanor and glares at her. "Matsuri shut the fuck up." He growls.

"Oh come on Sasuke," Sakura whines. "Why would you want to hang out with a loser like her?"

"That's it," he growls.

"Sasuke," I say softly and place a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down.

"No," he shrugs my hand off and turns to Sakura. "I'm sick of this! I'm sick and tired of your whiney, clingy, bitchy attitude! I can't fucking stand it anymore!"

"Sasuke," Sakura whispers, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying what I should have said a long time ago. It's over!"

"A-are you breaking up with m-me?" She wails. "Is it because of her?" She points at me and glares through her teary eyes.

"Nobody talks about my family or friends that way," Sasuke says. "We're through."

Sakura bursts into tears and runs out of the cafeteria. "Sakura!" Matsuri shouts as her and the red head run after her.

"That was… Awesome!" I laugh and slap my brother on the back.

"It felt great," he admits.

"It always feels great to break up with someone like that," I smile.

"You could have been a little nicer," Sora says, speaking for the first time.

"You." I growl at him. "Don't know the first thing about being nice, so shut the fuck up."

"Did you do it so you could date Tora?" Sora asks Sasuke.

"Gross!" I shout and shake my head vigorously.

"She's my friend," Sasuke says. "I was planning on breaking up with Sakura anyway, she just provoked me to do it now when she insulted Tora."

"Besides," I smirk. "Sasuke's like a brother to me."

"It's your turn next," Sasuke says to Gaara.

"What do you mean?" I ask them.

"He means it's my turn to break up with Matsuri," Gaara sighs.

"His Uncle is forcing him to date her, like my Dad forced me to date Sakura." Sasuke adds. For the first time since I found out Gaara had a girlfriend, hope blooms inside me. Maybe, just maybe, he meant those things he said that morning.

"I plan on doing it soon," Gaara says. "But you can't tell anyone what my Uncle is making me do, especially Temari and Kankuro. They don't know about it and I want to keep it that way."

"My lips are sealed," I say mimicking zipping my lips shut.

"You better do it soon," Sasuke advises.

"I planned on doing it after the dance," Gaara assures him. "But for right now you have trouble." He points behind us and I turn around to see Sakura and the two sluts storming towards us looking extremely pissed off.

"I can't tell if they're after me or you." Sasuke mutters.

"Doesn't matter," I say. "We should run." I grab his wrist and drag him to his feet. I run in the opposite direction pulling Sasuke along with me. We sprint out of the cafeteria and I lead him to the stairwell that leads to the roof. He hesitates for a second at the bottom.

"Get back here!" Sakura's voice screeches. "I'm going to kill both of you!"

That's all Sasuke needs to drag me up the stairs and onto the roof. "What are you-" Itachi starts, but I cut him off.

"Hide us!"

"Why should we?" Pein asks.

"Sasuke knows we're siblings and he dragged me to sit with him at lunch. Then Sakura insulted me and Sasuke snapped and broke up with her. Now her and her bitch squad are chasing after us wanting to tear us limb from limb." I explain in one breath.

"Don't worry," Deidara says as he and Sasori walk to the door. "We'll take care of it."

"What are you going to do?" Sasuke asks.

"We're going to use clones of you guys to lead them on a wild goose chase around the school," Sasori explains.

"Okay," Sasuke nods and the two leave.

"So you found out Tora's our sister." Itachi states.

"Yeah," Sasuke nods. "We actually spent all day together yesterday. If I had know what Mom and Dad did… I don't know, it just doesn't feel right. How could they give up their daughter for such selfish reasons?"

"That's a question I've been asking myself ever since I found her." Itachi sighs.

"Can we not talk about me as if I'm not here?" I ask.

"Sorry," they say.

"So how did Suzume and Kankuro's date go?" Konan asks me.

"Shit!" I exclaim. "With all the stuff that's been going on I completely forgot about their date!"

"Who's Suzume?" Sasuke asks.

"My best friend," I answer. "I'll have to introduce her to you sometime."

"Can't you just send her a text to ask how the date went?" Pein asks.

"I can't, she doesn't have a cell phone." I answer.

"Do you want to hang out with us again tonight?" Konan asks. "We're going to Kisame's house."

"I wish I could, but I'm busy." I sigh.

"It's okay," Konan says. "Just make sure you're free tomorrow night because Temari and I planned a sleepover for just us girls. Oh and if you can get in touch with Suzume invite her too."

"That sounds like fun," I smile as the bell rings for our next class.

* * *

"This place is awesome!" Kiba exclaims as he takes in the large training facility sprawled out before us.

"Just don't touch anything," Naruto says and leads us through the maze of underground buildings.

"Where are we going?" Hinata asks.

"You'll see," Naruto says mysteriously and winks at Hinata causing said girl to blush. We stop in front of the large roundish building in the center of the compound. Naruto holds the door open and I lead the group inside to Minato's office.

"Hey Dad," I say and walking in without knocking. I stop short as the faces of the heads of all the ex-shinobi clans stare at me and their children standing behind me.

"What are you doing here," all the parents say to their respective child.

"Tora, what's going on?" Minato asks.

"Well you see," I laugh. "After my mask was cut during the mission on Saturday I went back to the main ballroom to meet Kakashi and they all saw me. Then they cornered me at school because their minds weren't wiped and I had to bring them here so that I could explain myself without any enemies listening in. Oh and the Sabaku's are ex-shinobi from the Suna district and want to joint our sector because the moved."

"I told you we should have had their minds wiped," Hiashi says.

"Oh please," Tsume snorts. "It's not like they weren't going to find out eventually."

"So why are they here?" I ask gesturing towards the adults.

"They're looking to rejoin the program." Minato says.

"Seriously?" Naruto asks and all the adults nod. "That's so cool!"

"After what happened on Saturday we all remembered how much we missed the life of a shinobi." Inoichi says.

"Our parents were the ones who backed out of the program and they dragged us out with them," Shikaku explains. "We never wanted to leave in the first place."

"That's awesome," I smile. "We've been running low on shinobi anyways. But I wanted to ask if there was a board room open that we could use."

"The one right next door should be open," Minato says.

"Thanks Dad," I say and leave the room my friends trailing after me. I turn to my left and enter a room with a plain grey table surrounded by chairs. I take a seat at the head and gesture for the others to sit.

"This is going to be hard to explain," Naruto sighs.

I nod my head in agreement and clear my throat to get everyone's attention. "Okay so I think the best place to start would be at the beginning." I say. "Many years ago this place and four others like it were established by the government. The goal was to create an army of ninja to fight for them, but after a year they shut it down. The original shinobi then continued the program as a mercenary group. Shinobi are those trained in the ways of ninjutsu. We use our chakra to control the elements as well as increase our speed, strength, and agility."

"We are hired by all kinds of people for any task," Naruto says picking up where I left off. "All missions are assigned by the five Kages, or leaders. Our Dad is the Kage for Konoha and we call him the Hokage. When we use our chakra to control the elements we call that jutsu."

"Everyone's chakra is different," I continue. "My chakra is wind and lightning based while Naruto's is just wind based. A shinobi can also have water, earth, and fire based chakra."

"That sounds cool!" Kiba exclaims. "I wanna learn jutsu."

"You already know some," I say and he gives me a blank look. "You're parents taught it to you. The Yamanka clan is known for its mind jutsu, the Hyuga's are known for their Byakugan, the Inuzuka for their use of ninja hounds in their jutsu and a lot of other clans have special jutsu."

"So, we've been training to be ninja all along." Hinata says. "But we just didn't realize it?"

"Mhm."

"Okay kiddies," Tsume says as her and the other parents enter the room. "Play time's over."

"Wait we have one more question," Ino interrupts. "Who was the guy with you on Saturday, the one in the wolf mask  
"Oh that was just Kakashi," I shrug.

"Kakashi-sensei's a ninja too!" They all exclaim.

"Yep," I say.

"Hey listen up!" Tsume shouts. "Lord Hokage has something to say!"

"Thank you Tsume," Minato says and clears his throat. "As of today all of you are officially shinobi of the Hidden Leaf!"

* * *

"You sure you wanna do this?" I ask as Tsume and I face off in the middle of our stadium.

"Bring it on kid," she smirks and the wolf-like dog next to her lets out a small bark.

"Whatever you say," I say returning her smirk.

"Go Tora!" Kiba shouts only to get a glare from his mother. "I mean, go Mom!"

"Ready?" Kakashi asks and we nod. "Fight!"

Tsume comes at me with a quick combination of kicks and punches. I jump back out of the way only to be hit from behind by her dog. I hit the ground hard and let out an oof.

"Maybe you're not as good as I thought you were," she taunts.

"Believe me," I say standing up. "I am, I just didn't want to use this." I activate my Sharingan and watch her eyes widen.

"But that's-"

"The Uchiha Kekkai Genkai." I finish for her. "I know." I take out a kunai and charge at her. She blocks my knife with one of her own and growls. I just barely manage to twist out of the way of her dog's jaws before jumping back.

"Why don't I turn this up a notch?" She asks and makes a hand sign. "Ninja Art: Beasts Mimicry!" Her back arches forcing her down on all fours and her nails and teeth elongate.

"That's a cute jutsu," I smirk and bite my thumb. I make a few hand signs and slam my hands down onto the ground. "Summoning Jutsu!" I shout and smoke appears around me. When it clears an average sized white tiger stands next to me.

"What can I do for you milady?" He asks in a gruff voice.

"Hey Fade," I smile. "I need you to take care of that pesky little mutt over there." I point at Tsume's dog that lets out a bark of what I assume is anger at me calling him pesky.

"Okay milady," he answers.

"Oh and stop with the whole 'milady' thing. It makes me feel like some old queen or something." I say making a face. "I've already told you to call me Tora."

"Sorry mila- I mean Tora." Fade says bowing his head.

"Are you done talking to your little kitty cat?" Tsume mocks.

"Believe me," Fade scoffs. "This kitty has some nasty claws." His back legs tense just before he springs forward at Tsume's dog. The dog meets his attack halfway and the two roll away in a chorus of growls and roars.

"Don't kill each other!" I shout after them and turn to face Tsume who is already halfway to me. I curse under my breath and jump out of the way of her sharp nails. She's faster than she was before, it must have something to do with her jutsu. My eyes meet hers and I suck her into one of my genjutsu. Her eyes widen as the ground falls away in front of her and large, scaly tentacles emerge from the dark chasm created. They wrap themselves around Tsume and squeeze.

"W-what's happening?" She gasps as her body is crushed. The tentacles start to recede pulling her with them. Just as she's about to be sucking into the darkness I release the jutsu and we're back in the arena without my monster. I deactivate my Sharingan and blink a few times to clear my vision.

Tsume falls to her knees in front of me and breathes deeply. "I guess I'm a bit out of practice when it comes to genjutsu," she looks up at me, a smile adorning her face. "You're pretty good kid."

"You too," I smile and offer a hand to help pull her up. She grasps my hand tightly as I haul her to her feet. A loud roar startles us as Fade and Tsume's dog roll past us.

"We should probably stop them before one of them gets hurt," she laughs and runs a hand through her messy brown hair.

"Fade!" I shout. "Enough!"

The tiger releases the snarling dog beneath him and walks to my side. "Did we win?"

"Yep," I smile and run my hand over his soft fur. "You did good Fade. Head back to the island and rest okay?"

"Okay… Tora," He says.

"Oh and makes sure the others know not to call me milady!" I shout just before he disappears.

"What did you do to her?" Tenten asks as everyone comes down into the arena from the stands.

"I put her in a genjutsu," I answer.

"Genjutsu?" Lee asks.

"It's kind of like an illusion," Kakashi clarifies. I hear my phone chime and run over to my bag to get it.

Kushina: You guys need to come home right now.

Me: Why?

Kushina: We have some… guests coming over and you, your brother, and your father need to shower and change before they get here.

Me: Okay, love you.

Kushina: Love you too.

"Dad," I say looking up from my phone. "We have to leave."

"Why?" Naruto asks.

"Because Mom said we have guests coming over and we need to shower and change before they get there," I answer.

"Did she say who was coming over?" Minato asks.

"Nope," I say and pick up my bag.

"Okay," Minato says. "Kakashi can you take care of giving them their headbands and access codes?"

"Yeah," Kakashi says.

"Don't worry about teams," Minato sighs. "I'll take care of those tomorrow. Oh and I want all of the kids to report her directly after school as well as any other members of your families who are not here and wish to become shinobi."

They all nod as we leave the arena and rush to the parking lot. "Last one home's a rotten egg!" I shout and hop on my motorcycle while Naruto and Minato climb into the truck. I rev the engine and race off towards home.

I pull into the driveway and Naruto and Minato are nowhere in site. I go into the house to find Kushina in the kitchen. "Hey sweetie," she says and I give her a hug.

"Hey Mom," I reply. "What kind of guest are we having?"

"You'll see," she smiles. "I need you to dress nice though, no jeans or sweatshirts."

"Fine," I sigh and run upstairs to shower. After a quick shower I wrap my towel around me and walk into the hallway where Naruto is waiting to shower.

"You take forever," he says.

"Well, I'm sorry I actually like to clean myself instead of just standing in the water for a minute and calling it good," I roll my eyes.

"Hey! I clean myself, I just don't take as long as you do." He defends.

"Whatever," I say and go into my room. I put on a pair of shorts and a camisole and blow-dry my hair. After that I put on some black eyeliner and mascara and straighten my hair. I look in my closet and pull out every skirt, dress, and nice shirt I own. I pick out a short black skirt with a netted black fabric that sparkles and gives it a torn up look and a tight red t-shirt. I hear talking from downstairs fling my door open almost hitting Naruto in the face with it.

"Hey watch it!" He shouts.

"Sorry," I say.

"Naruto, Tora! Get down here!" Kushina shouts.

"Coming!" We yell and race down the stairs only to stop short at the bottom. Standing in the middle of our kitchen is the Uchiha family, including Fugaku and Mikoto.

Cliff hanger! I know I suck, but at least I updated. So it's 10 here and I have school tomorrow so I have to go to bed, but I hope you like this chapter :)

~C.S.


End file.
